dragonis
by petuliaklimpt
Summary: Purebloods, they all secretly hate one another and yet end up snogging each other for the sake of purity, so why should it be different with Sirius Black and Natalia Yaxley?
1. chapter 1

**_Hello dearies!_**

 ** _Yes, I'm uploading the whole story again. I just fixed some heaps of mistakes here and there; since I wrote the first chapters many years ago, there were many things I was not as happy with and many words were mispelled. I'm rewriting the whole story and I'm already on chapter twelve and I'm really happy with my work so far; I'm learning everyday and I think each year I become a little bit better, that's why I keep modifying my work._**

 ** _Many of the characters in my work are not going to be well liked at the beggining, one of them holding many of the trails I hate about people, but I grew to love them, and I hope you will too. I know Natalia seems a little bit too pretty which alas makes her look like a Mary Sue, but please forgive me! Most of my OC's never fit what society calls beautiful (because I think oddity is beautiful) but I just wanted to play with the idea of a "pretty girl" for once; besides, I'm still trying to give her some touches here and there so she'll be even more perfect (on a non conventional way). By the way, when I mean "what society calls beautiful" yes, I mean a skinny, middle height, white, usually blonde character (which is really beautiful and there are many girls out there who are STUNNING and look like that) but what I mean is that we barely ever get chacters from different ethnics and body types and that kind of stuff so I usually like to write characters who fit that norm (My main OC will have some twists here and there but she'll be mostly traditional pretty)_**

 ** _So basically I vaguely inspired the structure of the first chapter from another fic I read ages ago, and when I say "inspired" I mean the fact that I divide the first chapter in my OC's and Regulus Black's POV like the other fic did; I also add Sirius's POV but that's completely on me. Besides that little similarity, the rest is all mine; I still feel like this first chapter itself lacks of personality of it's own, but I find my writer's "voice" from like the second and so, and I think all of those are more enjoyable and they're also (I hope) pretty original . Having said that, please, do not steal my work; It's not only rude, but it's also a crime._**

 ** _If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to hmu, I may not answer straight away because I barely check fanfiction but I'll try to do my best._**

 ** _Enjoy the read and of course do not forget, the whole wizarding series of Harry Potter belongs to the one and only, J.K Rowling. I'm merely using her characters and playing around with them and the plot._**

 _In the land of gods and monsters,_  
 _I was an angel._  
 _Living in the garden of evil,_  
 _Screwed up, scared, doing anything that I needed._  
 _Shining like a fiery beacon,_

Monday. September. 1976

Natalia blew a strand of golden hair off her face and watched skeptically as James Potter swerved into a dive that didn't seem completely right, even she was able to tell. Then, she returned her attention back to the essay that had to be finished by the next day, handwriting getting bigger as she went on, just as it usually did whenever she was supposed to write something in which her interest was not set upon.

Natalia Yaxley disliked school Quidditch, especially Gryffindor's, along many other things. She could stand to watch world cups whenever her family would attend one, mainly because her eye was set upon the handsome and very fit players, and would cheer if Slytherin scored a goal, still she couldn't understand what was going on half of the time. The only reason she was near the Quidditch field that morning and the few mornings that preceded, was because she knew that it would be the last place people who knew her would try looking for her. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the attention and company of loved ones, but she had very good reasons to be avoiding her brother lately.

Besides, it was rather a nice day; sunny, quite warm for late September, she guessed the warmest it would be in the whole day, and it would be a shame to ruin such a rarity in Scotland with her brother's presence.

"Natalia, I've been looking everywhere for you!" a quite short of breath voice said, managing to make the other girl jump on her spot, eyes going wide.

When the witch looked up she found her best friend standing with hands over her hips and her chest facing the ground, trying to recover from all the running she had just done, her cheeks bright pink and warm and her usual sleek straight hair looking a bit chaotic. Not much of a sport aficionada either, the hilly ground surrounding the Quidditch's field wasn't her favourite spot either.

Jane Abbott was the tallest witch in their year, which made her also the skinniest and boniest; both her legs probably making one whole of Natalia's. She had tiny coffee brown eyes which she often complained about - too boring, she'd say; a chestnut blonde bob which she believed was alright; milky skin a and tiny face that had nothing out of the ordinary. Natalia believed she was pretty and told her so often, but Jane tended to disagree. The only non ordinary thing about her face was that little beauty mark on top of her lip, on the right side.

Before the shorter witch could do or say anything at all, her best friend's voice could be heard once again, as she frowned with squinted eyes: "Is that my Charms essay?"

Natalia definitely wasn't planning on getting caught when copying off from the paper, but honestly, could anyone blame her? Jane just left it over her bed while she had gone to the library to do some studying and the thing was due to the next day; would anyone have acted differently than she had? On top of all that, Jane knew very well Natalia hadn't even started hers, so the right thing to do was to allow her to copy off hers anyway, it was basically written on the rules of friendships.

"Sorry" the smallest witch sang, not a glimpse of remorse on her voice "Charms is too difficult and I've been so stressed, Janie! You simply wouldn't believe me if I told you how much" she was now aiming at her friends' eyes, succeeding at locking her baby blue ones with the other witch's darkest ones.

Jane was about to disagree, looking for the right words to tell her she had indeed heard all about her problems already without offending the witch, but Natalia hurried added, leaving her with no time to say anything: "But don't worry! I swear I'm changing most of the words. Flitwick won't even notice I didn't think of this all by myself."

Jane Abbott drawled her lower lip between her teeth, debating on whereas to say anything and then giving up on it, sitting down next to her friend, still annoyed by the action. It had taken her a whole week of class notes and various hours of reading at the library to make that essay.

"You could have asked, you know?"

The shortest witch looked heavenward, already getting tired of their conversation. Why did people find so much pleasure from telling her off? It seemed to be everyone's favourite hobby during those few months, she'd come to find out. Good thing she didn't let critique get to her, if not, her self esteem would be on dangerous leves.

"Forget about it, Jane. Morgana, you can be annoying sometimes"

"I'm the annoying one...?" Jane opened her mouth in outrage "How does that work?" she narrowed her eyes.

Natalia rolled her eyes and decided to stop writing, sitting up and getting herself more comfortable next to her best friend. Homework could wait and be done in bed with the comfort of chocolates and her cat, right then, she needed to talk to her best friend or else she'd go mad.

"Did I mention how stressed I am?" Natalia asked while raising a perfect, big, golden eyebrow, while one of her lips formed into a pout, knowing exactly she had indeed mentioned but looking as if that wasn't the case. Despite the pain that unhealthy amount of stress gave her, she smiled after letting out a short sigh – rather liking the feeling of sitting on the grass, her thick stockings providing her with safety from the itching, something that seemed to be bothering Jane.

The Abbott girl, who was too busy trying to get a bite on an apple she had been carrying, didn't answer; instead she just raised her eyebrows. She had been told many times about the matter that was keeping her friend upset, but many years of friendship had taught her to endure moments like that one, because if there was something the Yaxley heiress loved was repeating stories over and over. Besides, to be fair, Jane hadn't heard that much about that problem in particular, being so recent and all.

"Simon wants to set me up for tutoring with Evan Rosier. How disturbing is that?" she complained while hand-brushing her own hair without care.

Both friends frowned. If there was something Jane Abbott wouldn't want for herself or anyone else she cared about, it was spending time with Evan Rosier, him being the pig he was. She imagined, however, that her friend may have had it much worse than anyone else in the castle would, since the Slytherin boy seemed to… fancy Natalia, to put it on simple terms, reasons unknown.

"Is it because of the Transfiguration matter?" she asked while giving a big bite to her fruit, getting some juice running through her chin which she quickly cleaned with the back of her hand but the stickiness of it stuck on her, leaving an uncomfortable feeling she'd just have to tolerate.

"Yes" she sighed with a roll of eyes, her voice filled with bitterness "Mother has been unbearable during the whole summer holidays, as you know. She didn't like the letter of concern she received from McGonagall; the one where she said I barely made it last year because I'm 'way too out of focus'" she mimicked, exaggerating her gestures "How ridiculous is that?"

"Well…" Jane said slowly, trying once again, to find the right words to break it to Natalia "You do talk a lot… And you only got an acceptable last year because your father went to school with-

The killer gaze she received made her realize perhaps she should've kept quiet, so she zipped her mouth from then on. She loved her friend tremendously, but there were days when it wasn't convenient for one to cross Natalia.

"I'm just saying, Jane, that the only reason why I'm still in her class is because mother told me to. And the whole thing it's plain stupid! I don't even have to follow a career after next year's finished! I'll be happily married and those transfigurations classes will be of no avail when that happens."

"I'm aware of that. But hey, at least you keep me company. Doesn't that make you feel better?" She smiled charmingly, giving a final bite to her apple, evaporating the core of it with a simple wand shake and poof.

Natalia let some air out of her lungs and shrugged, while lying on the grass again, this time with her face facing the blue skies, her eyes matching its colour.

"Not really" she replied while adjusting her view to the clouds, hands on her stomach and her voice suddenly soft and honest "I guess she just wants me to be the best version of myself. And I am. I just don't understand why she has to make Simon my babysitter. He's barely older"

"Yes, I know, and he's been more intense about the matter lately"

"That's because my last grade wasn't exactly... well, you know about it, you saw it yourself"

And Jane nodded, remembering how sad and… irritable Natalia had been a few days ago when they got their first grade for the year back, a simple thing testing what they remembered from fifth year. There was nothing else she could say to make her friend feel better, so she lied on the grass as well next to her, offering her company. She really didn't want to get involved on a Yaxley family kind of discussion, because she knew how they all ended; they were a complex family, if anything. Besides, she was sure it really wasn't that much of a big deal; as Natalia had voiced out herself, she wasn't even going to follow a career and the worse that could happen to her from failing again was having her brother up her arse for another semester.

"Isn't James Potter looking good today?"

Natalia's features twisted on a playful manner, while bursting into laughs.

"Ugh, you are so disgusting!"

Jane giggled a little too, her eyes almost completely closed due to the sunlight.

"You can't say James Potter isn't a sweetheart"

"Yeah, and he's chasing after a mudblood half of the time. How attractive. Definitely husband material! And those glasses he has! Melting for!" her voice mocked, filled with sarcasm and amusement as her fists joined together, resting them over her heart to make her whole act a bit more dramatic.

Jane groaned, holding onto just one sentence of all the ones the other witch had let out: "Don't even tell me about it. Lily this, Lily that. Can't he see she's basically a muggle?" her question was demanding an answer. She really didn't understand it.

Natalia let out a deep breath, knowing Jane had just drained all the fun from the topic.

"Jane, you're giving me a headache, really, I thought you were getting over this; we hadn't talk about him like this since last year; I was starting to think you made progress. James Potter is almost a blood traitor. As I already told you, if I were you I would start looking for someone who is really worth your time and not obsessed with a mudblood. Try Tristan Nott or my own bloody brother if you feel like it for all I care"

Jane let out a small groan filled with frustration while shaking her hands up and down and looking expectantly at Natalia. She had a look on her face that almost made the other girl feel sorry for her, but they were talking about James Potter, a delusional boy with ideas of greatness who one was rather better off avoiding than being friends with, she knew whatever hopes her best friend had with him, had to die soon for her own sake.

"Is not that easy, you know? I have fancied him since I was like seven" she explained, crossing her arms over her chest and allowing her eyes to wonder off over to where the boy in question was, up in the air, laughing and looking absolutely gorgeous despite the sweat – or so she thought.

"I am aware"

"And I would never date your brother. He is insufferable"

Natalia Yaxley let out a snort while closing her eyes and enjoying some sun rays against her skin, Merlin knew those were the last dozes of it she'd be getting for the rest of the year and that soon her skin would return to that pink-ish colour, as it did every winter. She agreed with her friend about that last sentence, Simon could usually be an unsympathetic pain in the arse and his lack of serious relationships over the years did nothing but prove that.

A bludger flew awfully close to the spot where they were hidden and the relaxing moment was over immediately. Natalia's eyes were filled with annoyance, letting out a long and loud sigh. Thank you a lot, Quidditch.

"Ugh, let's get out of here. This sport is making me sick"

* * *

Sirius Black frowned at the bubbling cauldron in front of him. James Potter cheerfully chopped up some strange herbs neither him nor Sirius knew the name of but they were sure had seen at least once before on a book back in fifth year. He added them to their cauldron and it hissed. Both boys frowned, knowing something was probably wrong, like most things were those days.

"You know we're going to fail, don't you?" Sirius claimed on a defeated tone, his eyes bored. The subject not upsetting him nearly as much as it should have.

James clicked his tongue playfully and smirked.

"Now, don't be so negative, Padfoot. We can't fail; we need this class to be aurors, as you know. Besides, we always manage"

"That if I don't die out of boredom. Or poisoned by this" he said, suddenly coughing, an expression of displeasure on his face "What's even in there, mate?"

James shrugged

"I have no idea. Maybe we should ask Lily; bet she'll know"

Sirius laughed.

"You're truly hilarious, you knew that?" James didn't respond, rolling his eyes instead "Seriously, that girl hates your guts"

"No, no, she doesn't. She just... doesn't know me that well just yet. But as soon as she does, she'll fall for me just like that, man" and soon a cocky smile appeared on his face.

Sirius rolled his eyes with amusement and then went silent for a little bit only to open his mouth again two minutes later, with risen brows and a small smile on his lips; he had just discovered something: "No wonder you're smiling all the time; here in your seat, just in front of Evan's, the only pretty chick around. You didn't think of my necessities when you made me take this class, did you?"

This time, James denied with his head, treating the whole sentence as just absurd.

"Come on, Sirius. There are plenty of hot girls in here. Like... Sam Nicks!" he claimed while with his head pointing at the light haired brunette who was wearing the Gryffindor colours on her tie and just like most people unlike the two of them, working on her potion.

Sirius squinted his eyes shut.

"You know she's crazy, mate; that takes any hotness out of the sentence. Don't you remember how she threw a frog at me? It was alive!"

James laughed off at the memory, his eyes lighting up immediately. The common room had been in shock for days and he and the rest of their mates had teased Sirius about it for even longer than that. A very putting on a show kind of girl, Samantha Nicks.

"Well, you saw it coming. You snogged her a couple times and next thing she sees you doing the same to Marlene for the 100th time on the same day you two were supposed to go on a date"

The black haired boy shrugged, taking importance off the matter.

"You know Marlene. She has that something"

Both friends laughed.

"But seriously, mate. There are pretty girls in this class, other than Lily and Samantha, or even Marnie"

A sharp and abrupt laugh coming from the boy made some people turn to look at them, not that they minded the attention.

"If you suggest any of the Slytherin chicks, I'll smack you."

James shrugged.

"Nott's a bit creepy, so… no"

"Which leaves us with the worst of the lot" Sirius said bitterly

"Jane's actually really nice. Our parents are friends, so we always end up spending time together during Yule, you know that" he said "You should see her brother play Quidditch– one of the best chasers out there, I swear, mate. He played for Gryffindor a few years ago, back at when we were first years, 'member?"

"Ah yes. Pete Abbott. Cool guy. Wonder why his sister ended up in Slytherin"

James raised his shoulders, being incapable of giving his friend an answer. He had wondered that too once or twice and so had his father. Then again, Sirius own brother was also, a Slytherin.

"She is actually really pretty too. Her hair looks nice" he said while observing her "Not as nice as Lily's but..." he added quickly

Sirius just rolled his eyes. Of course James was going to bring Lily to the conversation... as he usually did. The Black boy really didn't get what the big fuss about Evans was. Sure, she was very pretty and smart, but she was also a stuck up pain in the arse and was always yelling at them, not to mention she befriended one of the worst snakes there were: Severus Snape. He found there were many other attractive girls that would love for James to pay attention to them, but it was really useless, ever since first year the boy had been a goner for the redheaded.

"And Natalia Yaxley-

"Don't even mention her" Sirius growled "My arse still hurts from the amount of hexing her brother and friends did to us"

The boy with the glasses chucked and flinched at the same time, if that was possible, while remembering how back in third year they had decided to pay the Yaxley girl a little prank after Sirius said it what fun of a target she would be, only to have it backfire on them when the revenge of her gigantic brother and equally fit friends hit on them. They had waited for them late at night by the Quidditch fields after practice and had hexed the hell out of both James and Sirius; however, Peter had gotten it way worse, since he was caught by himself on a corridor - up to the date, the little guy still refused to admit what the Slytherins had done to him.

"Well, looking back, we kind of got it coming"

"She should have done her revenge herself if it affected her so much. Going to your brother for protection is a baby move"

"Yeah… but… she's a girl. They like overreacting"

"I guess" the boy shrugged, knowing that had it been anyone else but the Slytherin girl who they were talking about, he'd have agreed "What's worse is that I have to see her during every, single, break. Really, would it kill my parents to befriend normal people? Yes, of course it would… it'd take them not to be creeps themselves" he muttered, clearly talking to himself now, wondering once again why had him been cursed with such a family as the one he had.

"Are they really that bad? Her older brother, the one who graduated, he seemed normal to me" he said casually, mentioning the one time he had run into the eldest Yaxley child back when he was shopping for books at Diagon Alley and the older boy had helped handing him a copy of Quidditch through the ages which happened to be far too high for a twelve year old James to reach, mentioning how he had read the book himself and found it extremely helpful.

The look he got from Sirius, however, showed him how much he disagreed with the idea he implied of the Yaxleys being nice.

"They are the worst blood supremacist you could ever meet. The mother alone is worse than my whole bloody family; seriously, my mother adores that woman; that should tell you something"

James nodded understandingly. Yes, being liked by Walburga Black often meant no good thing; he should know that.

"Right, and her brother, the Slytherin's keeper who beat our-

"Simon Yaxley, really a douche. My mother used to make me play with him when I was younger but he was too much of an arsehole for me to like. But I guess he's still better than his sister"

James arched an eye while moving his glasses up with his nose, something typical of James when he was curious. He leaned over, trying to get closer to where she was sitting, not that it helped much his vision.

" I guess she's kind of a brat but I understand where it may be coming from, after the whole Travels thing… but…"

Sirius snorted but it somehow sounded like a barf

"She's the worst, mate. I'm telling you. Fire's lit but the cauldron's empty; has the brain of a troll and the only things she ever thinks about are clothes and all those pureblood rubbish. At least you can get some smart sentences from Nott or Rowle every once in a while. Only reason she got her OWLs was because of her family's connections"

"Sounds a lot like most Slytherin girls" James laughed, and soon Sirius joined. That was a well-known fact through Hogwarts.

The bell rang, announcing the end of class, and James hurried to pour their faulty potion into a vial. They had just gotten enough time to finish it, but a quick glance at Lily Evans's perfect potion told him that they'd clearly gone wrong, somewhere. While James went up to Slughorn's desk to submit the vial, Sirius leaned back casually in his seat and observed Natalia Yaxley, something he hadn't done in a long time.

They'd met when they were very young, before Hogwarts. Sirius remembered her very well: a small chubby girl, funny looking nose, big blue eyes and long golden hair perfectly French braided, a few baby curls sticking out here and there. She'd always been noisy, and the few days that he spent at her house with his family consisted of fighting with Sirius and their siblings, Simon and Regulus. He admitted to himself that she was quite fun back then; always up to anything he wanted to do, but that was way before she started thinking just as their parents.

While now older, she still looked really similar to that child he had met many years ago. He could always hear her nasal voice, no matter how far away their desks were from each other's. While she had grown in age she still stood very short, he supposed she was one of the shortest of their year; had lost most of her baby fat everywhere but her face, her nose was still a little weird and her hair reached her waist, big curls all over it; Sirius thought that it made her look ridiculous, who needed that much hair?

As they grew up, both of them realized that there was no chance of ever being okay with each other's presence again. Sirius had spoken to her once or twice during their first year, simply because she was a familiar face among many unknown ones. Natalia had seemed eager to offer him her friendship until she realized he was hanging out with Remus and Peter, whom she casually said were not people worthy of his time, their last names almost unheard of. After that, neither of them had even glanced at the other's direction. They were different people, leading different lives, connected only by the fact that their parents were good friend.

Then, third year came by and he decided to play that prank on her after he heard her call Mary McDonalds, a Gryffindor witch from his year, a detestable word as she walked with her friend after Charms class. Long story short, after the joke was made, she ran up crying to her troll of a brother and he took care of the situation for her, and ever since then Sirius had pretended she was invisible since it was easier than trying to tolerate her or keep on trying to make her life miserable; sure, his Gryffindor soul had initially wanted to keep pulling pranks on her after what happened, but it really wasn't worth his time, he had enough with Snivellus and at least with the oily haired boy he didn't have to waste his time looking after his arse to prevent it from being beaten by Simon Yaxley and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

To be honest, he didn't truly believe she was the worse snake in the castle, although she probably was the most spoilt and annoying one. The fact that she always got everything she wanted and her way to get out of difficult situations after having getting herself into them on the first place, infuriated him, but there was not much he could do apart from ignoring her.

It was his friend's voice what got him out of his thoughts. He seemed pretty horrified about the fact that he had spent that much time thinking of a Slytherin, but quickly shove it off his mind.

"Oi, Sirius! Come on, don't want to miss lunch!" James yelled at him. Sirius nodded, quickly gathering his things and rushing out of the Potions classroom.

* * *

Regulus Black entered the Great Hall still in his Quidditch robes, after a disappointing morning. They had lost their practice time because of those stupid Gryffindor's and all the special attentions they got from Dumbledore. Furious, he sat down harshly besides their chaser, Parkinson, who was still complaining about it.

Regulus ate quietly with a gloom look in his eyes, but the rest of the team seemed to have forgotten about the matter quite quickly, after all, they had been complaining the whole day already. He wouldn't have cared so much if that one hadn't been his first practice as an official member of the team. He had been trying to get in since second year, but it wasn't until fifth that he made it in, thanks to Zacharias Doelley, a fourth year who couldn't keep his grades high enough for him to continue a part of the team. Two weeks had passed since the beginning of the school year and on Wednesday they were supposed to have their first practice with Regulus as a member, but since dear old Dumbledore was a great fan of both: Gryffindor and Quidditch, he gave their day to the lions' team without informing them sooner – from then on, as a regard for winning the previous year cup, the lions would have both, Wednesdays and Thursdays to practice, while Slytherin would be moved to Mondays. It had only been decided recently.

A high pitched laugh came from the other side of the table, so loud that Regulus heard it clearly from his seat and had to keep his face from flinching. The only thing that he needed that night was a headache from such an obnoxious sound. He only had to look up once to know that the loud person was Natalia Yaxley, along with her friend, the Abbott girl.

He really didn't know Natalia Yaxley that well since she was one year ahead of him and both tended to ignore each other, but since their parents were friends he knew her well enough to say that the witch was a pain in the arse. She was loud, dumb and a spoiled brat, all things he despised. He supposed it wasn't really her fault, but Mr. Yaxley's by encouraging her behavior from such an early age and seeing no wrong in his daughter. From what he heard from other members of the house, the witch was an absolute empty cauldron head but pretty and rich enough to find a good husband once the time came; Regulus felt sorry for the poor bastard who was unlucky enough to marry someone like her, in fact, he felt even more sorry for her, having to exist with such a limited and narrow mind. She was completely immature, and exactly the kind of person he wished never to be associated with.

That was probably the only thing he had in common with his brother–despite them not knowing about it: both Blacks despised Natalia Yaxley and her noisy mouth with a passion. The difference laid on the fact that if wanted to, Sirius could be totally rude to her and that would make no difference to anyone, Regulus on the other hand had to stop himself from speaking out his mind about her, since she was his Quidditch team captain's little sister. So, Natalia Yaxley was indeed a silly girl both Black brothers just loved to ignore.


	2. chapter 2

_Is this by mistake or design?_

 _Wednesday. September. 1976_

Natalia was bored, that was clear.

Jane had abandoned her in order to do some homework at the library with Rue Rowle and Dolores Nott - witches who also took the Arithmancy class. Natalia, who had decided that such a dreadful class was not of her liking and was not interested in any kind of studying, was left alone in the common room with no other company than Constance Allingway, who she detested completely and was ignoring her over some rather dull talk with a fourth year who happened to be her cousin.

Her gaze drifted over to a built figure that sat by the fire while reading a book, noticing him for the first time ever since she had gotten there. The boy seemed focused on his book, which seemed to be the one they got assigned for DADA, and his sister seemed to hold no interest on breaking that concentration off, as fun as it'd have been doing that under any other circumstance. Unfortunately for her, Simon Yaxley was a skilled Quidditch player and knew that one should be on guard at all times, so he lifted his eyes up before his sister could even move a finger, making both pair of baby blue eyes connect, leaving the witch with no time to escape.

He was a large boy, with dark blonde hair like their father and threatening features like their mother, his skin being slightly darker than his twin's. The only soft thing you could pick on him were his eyes, identical to his sister's. Next to him, Natalia could've been perceived as an innocent little thing, weak, even, but sure thing she didn't consider herself to be any of those.

He stood up and made his way over where his sister sat, stealing a few glances from fellow housemates. To put it simple, a third of the house wanted to be him; the other feared him, and another considerable amount of snakes wanted to shag him, regardless of gender; not that they could be blamed, he was a Quidditch captain and very kind on the eye, plus, he had a nice amount of galleons in his vaults. Too bad he hated most forms of physical interaction, sticking mostly to the same people he had known for years and keeping things with outsiders very limited.

The witch knew there was probably no point of even trying to escape, since that would only get her into more trouble if possible, so against her natural instincts, she forced a tight smile and made space next to her on the sofa so he could sit. Perhaps if she came up with a subject that interested him enough, she could get away from all the lecture she was sure to receive, not that it was a tactic that worked on Simon, but a witch could dream.

"Hello brother" she said while showing her white teeth on a smile. She crooked her head and tried to read the title of the book he was holding. "'Arts of Parsel' Wow, Simmy! Looking to impress certain someone?" she winked, playfully.

Simon rolled his eyes upon her silly behavior and sat down next to her, dropping his whole weight without another care in the world, making things over jump a little. It didn't appear as if he had found his sister's words to be any fun if one considered the look on his face, but then again, he was tired and never known for having a terrific sense of humour; got it from his mother, that was for sure.

"No, but you should be working on impressing mother. I received another of her letters this week. Do you have any idea of how screwed I'll be if you even come near failing your exams?"

"You?" she cried, throwing a humorless laugh, not believing his words "Don't you know how screwed I am going to be if such a thing happens? She's probably going to send me to Durmstrang and then marry me off to some middle class squib"

To this, Simon suppressed a smile. The marriage bit was a funny scene to imagine taking place, even when irritated and moody. He could even picture his sister working… yes, that'd be a fun and most surreal scenario.

Petra Yaxley had always wanted her children to study at Durmstrang. She studied there herself, being the only girl in her year with the only female company of two younger students and her own sister, two years above. She considered Hogwarts to be too English-like and degenerated as a consequence of all those muggles they allowed in each year, for her children to study there. If it had been up to her, she would have sent them to the Slavic school long time ago, but her husband hadn't allowed her to do so, that being probably the only thing in which Bruno Yaxley had stood up over his wife. The Yaxley tradition had it that one went to Hogwarts and ended up in Slytherin; extra points if you made it to be a prefect and later on, head student. The twins' father was really eager to please his wife during most times, and would've bended every single tradition for her but that one; could anyone blame him though? He was a proud snake.

"I talked to McGonagall"

Natalia's eyes widened.

"You did? What'd you say to her? What'd she say to you?"

"Not much. I told her mother was concerned and she said your main problem was lack of focus, nothing new really; and then said she would take care of that. She still recommends you to get a tutor"

"Well, that's not going to happen since you don't even take the bloody class and both Jane and Nott refuse to teach me"

The truth was Natalia really didn't have many options. Constance Allingway didn't take Transfigurations either, considering it too much time consuming and of no help for her future. Dolores Nott, whom could have been of use for Natalia for once in her life, had refused when asked, apparently still resentful from those times when the blonde would make fun of her hair when they were both first years; but really, how could anyone blame her? Nott's hair seemed to be drowning on its own greasiness and Natalia was an honest young witch back in those days. At last, there was Rue Rowle, but it was fair to say the witch wasn't the brightest at the subject either.

Ironies aside, Simon didn't even take the subject. Apparently, both their mother and father thought the young boy had already too much on his plate with Quidditch's practices, other subjects and the possibility to officially join the troops of the Dark Lord whereas Natalia really didn't have much of an excuse for not taking it but the fact that she was too stupid to transfigurate a bug into a pin.

"I told you I would help if I could, but it's out of my power." He let out tiredly with a condescending tone. Despite both being the same age exactly, with a few minutes of difference, it wasn't a secret that he often took the job of the eldest "I've more important things to worry about than Transfigurations"

"Yes, yes, yes" she cried dismissively ."Then what am I supposed to do? No one in our house who takes it wants to teach me"

"Well, you know one that does and it's willing to tutor you"

Natalia looked at him with disgust.

"Never in a million years. I would rather be fat and lose all my galleons to a troll than to spend more than a second with Rosier by myself"

Simon rolled his eyes.

"Now you are being dramatic. Evan's not that bad, he likes you a bit but he'd never try to do anything to you. I'm his captain and you're my sister, he knows that" he reassured, trying not to let her bratty behaviour to get into his nerves "Anyway you'll have some time to figure that out until the next exam, but please do so soon or else I will have to ask Evan. You don't know what it's having mother up my arse about your grades while trying not to fail my own"

Natalia nodded, actually feeling guilty for putting her brother in such a position. It wasn't his fault she wasn't that smart, but at the same time, it wasn't her fault that Petra Yaxley decided to command him with every single thing that concerned Natalia, on top of everything else.

It appeared as if the conversation was over, but a few minutes later, dropping his book down, he asked: "Why is Hippolytus helping you again?"

"We already tried that last year and he said I'm a terrible student"

Her brother nodded and made an attempt of a sympathetic smile, and just as things were getting too sweet for the pair of siblings, the boy stood up with grace. It made some people wonder, sometimes, how despite of his long limbs and quite brute contexture he could still manage to move around with such ease. Not even a meter away from the witch, he turned his head and with a cheeky smile asked "Have you gained some weight? I can see a lot of chocolate pudding under that sweater"

And Natalia being Natalia threw a book at him, and a pillow, and another book, all while her cheeks went furiously pink and her arms crossed in front of her. The sound of his laughter was still around three minutes later, and it infuriated her so much that she had no other option but to move away.

* * *

Natalia started up at professor McGonagall with the worst kind of look—the one she only reserved for annoying cousins, mudbloods and sometimes, her twin.

How could she? That terrible woman! Natalia wasn't sure to know the reason why Minerva McGonagall hated her, but it was clear that was the case if she was serious about pairing her up with some Gryffindor. She simply had to be joking.

That morning, Natalia had finished breakfast sooner than usual, grabbed a box of lemon drops - sweets which she knew all old people appreciated, and walked early to the Transfigurations classroom to thank the professor for trying to help her situation. She wasn't sure why, but Minerva McGonagall was the only one in the whole school who she hadn't charmed since first year; most professors were familiar with her own parents, and there was no person alive who got into a conversation with Bruno Yaxley and left without feeling rather amicable towards the old man; the ones who hadn't known her parents, knew her brother - Sebastian, who had been head boy and prefect and a dear to most people; above all, she had a charming smile and her words were always pleasing to hear, and those things came handy when wanting to get in the soft eye of her teachers.

She was hoping that perhaps, although late, she could finally get the Transfigurations professor to like her a little better and maybe, if Merlin allowed itt, end once and for all the whole grading problem. But that wasn't the case.

Apparently, the professor seemed to think that if she paired Natalia with another Slytherin, no matter how smart this other person was, she would end up talking during the whole lesson and once again being really close failing her exams. Natalia wanted to roll her eyes at her, it wasn't as if she couldn't keep quiet and had to be separated from all decent human form to make her silent. So, with the sweet still on her hand, she went down to her desk and sat down.

Professor McGonagall seemed to be studying the whole classroom, thinking about with whom Natalia would sit for the rest of the school year. The young witch couldn't care less who that person was as long as it wasn't any mudblood like that Evans girl–if that were the case, Natalia was quite sure her parents would present a complaint to the school. A Gryffindor was bad enough for a partner, a mudblood Gryffindor? Tragic and unacceptable. She was sure any of her parents would rather have an illiterate child than having sharing space with the closest thing to a muggle.

"Mr. Black" she announced with a tight smile "Since you and Mr. Potter were so kind to interrupt my class last week once again with that little joke of yours, I think it would be convenient if I split you up"

The old witch smiled when she saw the displeasure over the idea on the young students faces, hoping that'd be enough to keep them from making a riot out of her classroom for once. While she had grown fond of both boys over the years, for they were good natured under that mischievous demeanor of them, they did get on her nerves most of the times, so it seemed very convenient to get them to take a break from each other and make things easier for her while helping out one of her most… dreamy students. Besides, the swap worked almost perfectly to avoid any complaints from blood supremacist parents and further problems – a few years back, she had made the mistake of pairing up one of the Slytherin boys, an Avery if she wasn't mistaken, with a fine Gryffindor muggle-born, not a week had passed and arguments were rising and names were being called, not to add all the detention she handed; on top of that, Mr. and Mrs. Avery owled the school each week demanding for a change to be made or else manners would be taken on their own wands. Not that Minerva was scared of racist parents and bratty students, but she now was close to reaching a certain age and she had more things to worry about than those sort of people.

"Miss Yaxley, you may trade partners with Mr. Potter. Miss Abbott, Mr. Black, please change your seats accordingly" Professor McGonagall informed, before heading back to the front of the classroom. "No further partner exchanges shall be entertained. Please, now open your textbooks on page 593"

Jane had a hard time trying to not to scream out in joy like a mad witch as she managed to pinch her best friend in the arm at what she thought was a grateful gesture. Natalia, on the other hand, didn't even try to hide her displeasure about the whole situation. What on earth was McGonagall thinking about? Did she honestly think she could be having her be partners with that filthy soon to be blood traitor? She even preferred Potter, whose taste in girls was highly questionable, so that was saying something.

Sirius Black didn't look so thrilled either and he let her know that by slamming his textbooks on the table, owning a deathful look from the blonde. As for James, he simply looked relieved he wouldn't have to sit for the rest of the year with girl with a reputation such as Yaxley's, who on top of everything hated the marauders' guts, and besides, he was famiiar with Jane Abbott and knew was quite a nice and smart girl who would make a fine transfiguration partner.

The dark haired wizard glanced at Natalia with a frown. Not a minute had passed before the witch began talking, much to his displeasure and he made sure of letting her know, letting out a loud groan that'd hopefully keep her quiet for future locations. To that, she rolled her eyes, pushing her hair off her shoulder.

"Listen, Black, I'm certainly not pleased with this situation, ergo, don't talk to me, I won't talk to you. That's the deal. So simple even you can understand it"

Sometimes, if one didn't know her well enough and observed her from the distance (far so one wouldn't hear her), she could pass as someone sweet and almost innocent, but one thing he was sure of was that there was not even one sweet bone belonging to Natalia Yaxley.

"Cool with me, Yaxley" Sirius said, remarking her last name with disgust.

Sirius wanted nothing more than actually be loyal to the deal they had previously made, but after Natalia ruined her transfiguration charm for the 6th time in a row, he knew he had to do something, not particularly because he wanted to help the girl; he was just really annoyed by her mistakes and the triggering sound she would make when flicking her tongue every single time she'd have to start all over (which weren't seldom)

It was barely a barf at first, so the light haired witch wasn't able to hear him then. The second time he raised the sound of his voice a little bit more, but Natalia was still too worried about her class work to pay any attention to anything but it. The third time he tried to talk to her came out so loud that Dolores Nott and Rue Rowle, both whom were sitting behind them were able to hear it.

"You are doing it all wrong!"

Natalia's eyes were sending ice towards Sirius but her cheeks were as red as fire—something he had seen several other times on Natalia Yaxley and more often than not, he had been the reason for such expression of hatred.

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

He rolled his eyes.

"No, but you're being bloody annoying and I can't concentrate on my own work"

Natalia clenched her jaw. How was it possible that a stupid Gryffindor were there telling how she was supposed to do things. If only her mother could see her, she'd laugh her face off. She could totally manage it by herself and didn't need help from anyone, especially not from bloody Sirius Black, what she needed was people to stop peeping into her business. To make things worse, she could hear the two Slytherin witches sitting behind them sneering.

"I do not need your help and neither want it" she snapped harshly "With any luck, my father will make McGonagall come to her senses and she will split us out in less than a week"

As she said those words, making a mental note to go write to her papa right after classes were finished, demanding for him to talk to the school; the boy's patience was about to come to its limit. That was exactly what you got when you were nice to a snake, a poisonous bite – he told himself. If anyone was in fault there, it was him for even trying to do the good thing.

"Fine, Yaxley. Be a bloody troll for the rest of your life for all I care"

After those words were exchanged, class was over and both lion and snake walked different ways towards the rest of their classes, every so often thinking about how unlucky they both were for getting caught in such a terrible situation.

* * *

When Natalia Yaxley sat down for breakfast the next morning, she noticed once again how popular Sirius Black was among almost every house in Hogwarts. Both, witches and wizards from every year either loved or hated him, but there was not one student who didn't know who he was. Always seemed to be talking to someone, and even when he wasn't talking to anyone, Natalia could see how several students were still looking and talking about him. It wasn't a surprise why he was so popular though; he was handsome, pureblood and rich - and if he liked you, he could be very charming to the point of dangerous.

Natalia used to fancy him back when they were kids up until their first year, but of course he had no idea of that, Merlin knew if he did, he'd mock her to the point of no return. Whenever she learnt of the Blacks coming over to the manor, she would cry and whine until allowed to wear her favourite robes, instead of the ones picked by the elves, and would plan out all sorts of games and conversations to have with him. Once they were together, little old Natalia would do everything Sirius told her to, even if sometimes it meant getting in trouble with her parents. Of course, even back then, when she didn't think so terribly of him, he still managed to get on her nerves, but she was willing to look pass all of it by by just one look into his eyes.

Petra and Bruno Yaxley even considered marriage between the two of them at some point. Sirius was the perfect match for Natalia. Of course that Idea died the second they heard he had been sent to Gryffindor, considering him too rebellious to marry their only daughter; "nothing good comes from Gryffindor" her father had said one morning while reading the paper, after the subject had been brought up. If the situation had involved any of their other children, Sebastian or Simon, perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Yaxley wouldn't have cared as much and would've chosen for the engagement arrangements to go on despite the bride being sorted into Gryffindor, but their younger was already a very impressionable child, unlike her brothers, and neither one of her parents thought it a good idea to allow her to be near such a threat – of course, Natalia knew nothing of it.

Clearly, she stopped fancying him the minute he began being so rude towards her friends and herself, all of them people who at that stage of his life, were still his friends too; that happened to be around the same time he began hanging out with Potter and the rest of those Gryffindors, so it was pretty easy to see what had happened. During her second and third year, she did her best to ignore him, throwing some snarky comments here and there which were very eagerly reciprocated, but it had been after that terrible prank of his that she had stopped directing herself towards him by all means. After what happened, he was just someone Natalia and Jane would gossip about every once in a while due to his very promiscuous lifestyle and nothing else. Both Black and Yaxley had managed to stay away from each other's way for a long time, that of course, until McGonagall decided to make them partners.

"Hello, Natalia" a haughty voice said.

She rolled her eyes immediately, not even needing to look up to know who it was. She would've recognized that voice anywhere, as sad as that sounded.

"What do you want?"

The boy in front of her laughed and took a seat across her, still with a toothy smile on his face. If there was one thing she would never understand of him, it was that no matter how ill-mannered she seemed to purposely behave whenever on his presence, he kept on trying. She understood she was very pretty and perhaps the best catch in the whole castle, if one based that on blood, family name, manners, taste and money, but she'd have hoped that after so many years of giving Rosier the cruelest of treatments he'd come to accept it was time to move on to someone maybe a bit less accomplished as Natalia, like Constance Allingway or Rue Rowle, but that had yet to happen.

"Is that how you are supposed to treat your future husband, Nati?" he joked, winking and sitting down, next to her. .

The witch rolled her eyes one more time, brushing her hair off her shoulder and flinching her nose; disgust visible across her face. If there was anything worse than the boy himself, it was that stupid nickname he would call her. She already had a nickname, and it suited it just fine; why had he to go on and make up another, much stupid one?

"I would rather eat a hippogriff, Rosier."

Evan Rosier clicked his tongue while smiling with arrogance. Sometimes, it felt as if he thought her rude treatment was like a game. It wasn't

"I would be more careful with my mouth if I were you. Especially if you want me to be your new transfigurations tutor"

Natalia vaguely raised her eyes from the magazine she was reading, not even bothering in getting angry at such an attempt of a wizard as Rosier. If she was going to get wrinkles because of anyone, she hoped that person would be worth it. When she replied, her voice sounded bored and uninterested; luckily it would give him a hint to leave her alone.

"I don't want you to be my new tutor, thank you" and then her eyes were glued again on her magazine. She truly gave herself the pleasure to be the rudest little witch when their parents weren't around, the thought made her smile.

That attitude and her words seemed to annoy Evan just slightly, too used to those for them to affect him enough to make him leave, instead he kept a tight smile on his face and continued talking. Not that she regretted doing so, but she had really not intended to vex him; she simply wanted him gone as quick as possible; not that he would try doing anything to her in such a public space, but people would see them together, and she didn't want to be paired to such a pig as Rosier in anyone's mind.

"Well, that's not what your mother seems to think" the minute he said that, he had Natalia's full attention and it was obvious that was what he was aiming for, judging by the way he said those words "Your mother and mine met last Saturday for tea and scones, and Mrs. Yaxley mentioned what a deception your grades from last year were compared to your brother's"

Natalia's cheeks went a hue darker of pink with each word mentioned, her fists clenching and trying hard to convince herself that getting into a fight with him was not a thing she needed. She felt utterly humiliated having no one else but Evan Rosier knowing about her school problems, which the witch could admit were flawed. Still she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of having her look up from her magazine, knowing that was exactly what he intended by telling her such things.

"Don't look so alarmed, Nati. Your mother only told mine because they are both good friends, that's all. Mrs. Yaxley isn't telling everybody. I personally think she is too embarrassed to tell" he chucked as if he had made the funniest joke ever.

"Why are you telling me this, Rosier?" she asked in annoyance, clenching her jaw.

She guessed the boy was probably just trying to embarrass her, but then again he could be hiding one of his dirty tricks so she had to make sure she was prepared for whatever his dodgy mind could've planned out.

"Well, when I heard about it I got really worried about you. Then, after, your brother mentioned you needed a tutor and that neither he or Lestrange could do it, hence here I am. You can thank me later"

Natalia slammed her magazine shout with strength, yet she was slyly about it. There were plenty of things Natalia wanted to yell at Evan Rosier, but none of them would be something any of the people at the great hall should be witnesses of, and she was tired of getting told off, so it was decided she would keep her true thoughts for herself, for her own sake (and Rosier's too, to be quite frank)

"Thank you, Rosier, but no thank you."

Evan rested importance to Natalia's words and shook his head, on denial, a petulant smile on his face, as if she was a small child making a stupid choice and he were the adult, ready to enlighten her and be pictured as her new hero.

"Don't say anything more. I am death sure we both will get beneficiated from this" and with those words, he also added what he seemed to think was a flirty smile and touched her bare leg with one of his big, sweaty hands. Natalia just looked at him with disgust and quickly shoved him off, with more strength than necessary but less than the amount she really wanted to use. After such a thing she'd have to take a long bath and rub her leg until it bleed if necessary, she was going to make sure of that.

It wasn't that Evan Rosier was ugly or anything. He was alright looking, she thought, and from a really good family with good money, but there was something about him that grossed Natalia out, and most girls too. She thought of him as some dodgy pervert who would take the first chance he got to snog any walking thing. Besides, he had developed some kind of obsession with her ever since they were in second year, which made him even more disgusting, if possible.

"Go boil your head, Rosier."

And with those words, Natalia took her magazine and got away from the table, leaving a really angry Evan Rosier behind, looking a her back with so much loath and intensity that had any teacher been looking, they'd have suspected that the boy was setting a curse on her.

* * *

Rosier's words from that morning managed to get Natalia very worried about her mother's opinion regarding her grades and what she could and was supposed to do in order to fix that – not that improving her grades on Transfigurations would get her mother to change her opinion on her, she wasn't that stupid, but at least, if she improved a little she guessed the possibility of changing school's to Bulgaria would be out of the question. She was in fact, so worried she wasn't even able to manage and read the last pages of the latest edition of "Twitch Weekly", which was pretty serious since she had been waiting for weeks to read that interview about Thitulus Spectram, "Blibbering Humdingers"' current lead singer.

She went to her classes and was unable to pay attention to anything, since she was too worried about coming up with a suitable tutor and lessening her mother's anger towards herself and her own agony in the process. McGonagall took 5 points from Slytherin because she couldn't answer to the question that was asked and Professor Flitwick inquired if everything was alright after he caught her once again looking very lost and pale as a ghost, which was rather sweet of him.

Of course it wasn't news to her that Petra Yaxley was disappointed over her results on Transfigurations along with some other things that involved her persona, she'd had to be blind and deaf in order for that to happen, but she always though her father and brothers had it all under control on a way that her mother's anger wouldn't result in any kind of retaliations over her guts. However, knowing what a private person her mother was, the fact that she had been telling people outside the family about her frustration, no matter how good friends those people were, would mean she was in fact very mad about it.

Even Jane seemed worried about the girl. She was aware that her best friend could be a bit overly dramatic on some situations, but she also knew how… harsh Mrs. Yaxley could be to Natalia on a daily basis, so she guessed it'd only be worse on situations like these. She really was a stranger to Natalia's situation; her own parents always being very understanding of what her academicals limits were; only receiving encouragement from them to do better, instead of warnings and threats.

"And what about Snape? He's smart"

"Ew, Jane! You know how weird he is. And he also has this thing for the mudblood. Even Simon told me to stay away from him, so I'm sure he wouldn't allow me to take tutoring from him. Besides imagine me having to spend time with him? Merlin, give me a break!"

"You could always take Evan's offer… I know it's not the best but-

"Have you gone mental? I could never spend more than five minutes along with that dorcus. He disgusts me."

Jane shrugged, not really sure of what to answer. Everything she said seemed like the wrong option, but she was only trying to help.

"You know I would tutor you if I could, but I'm almost as bad as you are"

It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't false either. Jane got better marks than Natalia did because she studied harder and wasn't a complete git to the professor, but it took a lot from her to understand the classes. If she tried explaining anything to another student, she was sure to fail the class herself too. Besides, Transfigurations wasn't a strong subject of hers either, excelling at Charms, instead.

"It's alright, Janie. I think I can get help from someone else. Maybe I can finally say goodbye to what's left of my social life and ask Alastar Travers for help " she let out a humorless chuckle while getting herself ready to bed, a defeated and sad smile on her face "Anyway I could use a drew, would you be a dear and get me some?"

And because Jane was feeling very bad for Natalia, she went down to the common room and asked a house elf that was walking by to bring them some honey tea which they would later drink in silence each on her own bed.

* * *

Natalia was half-asleep as she trudged into Potions class the next morning. She'd barely had time left to fix her hair and throw on her uniform before rushing to class. That was because she had spent most of her night overthinking about having to ask someone else from her year to tutor her, thing she knew was completely and utterly humiliating.

She hadn't been joking when she had suggested asking Alastar Travels for help, but she wished she wouldn't have to reach such extreme measures. You see, Alastar was the cutest boy in all Slytherin and Natalia had had this crush over him for over three years and six months now. That all was alright, but, he was also the boy who had been once very involved on a very embarrassing chapter of her life, all thanks to Sirius Black and the rest of his idiotic friends. On a regular basis, the wizard paid minimal attention to her since the only thing he seemed to have on his mind was Quidditch, since he was one of the chasers; besides she had once heard a rumor that he had the creeps for Constance Allingway, hence Natalia's loath for the girl. His brother hated they guy ever since a young age for no apparent reason, but she could care less about what Simon thought.

She'd just slipped into the Potions dungeon, when she realized that Simon was sitting by himself at his usual desk. She could see his partner, Hippolytus, talking to the professor, so she guessed she had no time to lose. She dropped her bag into Lestrange's seat as quickly as she was able to and smiled sweetly at her brother while taking all her things out in record time, never losing her smile.

"Hippolytus sits there, you know that" her brother said casually, trying to keep any emotion from showing on his voice since he was aware that Natalia could pick on annoyance as quick as a pixie and would make the experience even worse just for her own amusement if she were to know her presence was vexing her brother..

"He can sit with Janie for the day, don't you think?" she asked bubbly, a charming smile on her face "I simply felt like I could use a change today, is that all right?"

He was going to disagree to that, but Natalia didn't give him the time to do so, an uncalled bigger smile soon creeping into her face along with a short giggle which made her twin frown.

"What do you think we're going to do today? Hope not the same than last class. Those lizard legs left my skin all dry and ugly. It took me ages to make it go back to how it was and many baths with that "

Simon threw a sigh, already getting tired of the constant talking of his sister. He had had a very small amount of sleep the previous night, studying hard and planning some things for next Quidditch training.

Merlin knew that was going to be a long class… he thought.

Natalia opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Professor Slughorn bustling loudly into the classroom, and calling for the students to take their seats. The old wizard offered a special smile to both Yaxleys which they returned politely; Professor Slughorn had a soft spot for them, being good friends with their father, both had been in the same year back in the day – besides, the twins were quite skilled at brewing, so that also played on their favour.

When she made sure he wasn't looking anymore, Natalia frowned and turned to face the front, just as a large cauldron emitting steam was hauled into the classroom. Simon smiled, relieved to have the witch's mouth shout for a few minutes.

"I've got something all of you will love" Slughorn giggled with genuine pleasure "Anyone can recognize this one? Ah, yes! Miss Evans!"

Natalia and Simon rolled their so similar eyes at the exact same time her name was mentioned. Of course it would be that filthy mudblood the one answering the question. Couldn't she just stay quiet? If there was something on which both Yaxley siblings strongly agreed on, was that Lily Evans was bloody annoying and that the school would be much happier without her presence there.

"Amortentia, the most powerful love potion known so far"

"That's correct, Miss Evans" The teachers said with fond eyes "5 points to Gryffindor! " Slughorn exclaimed, causing Simon to mutter some kind of insult his twin couldn't quite put her finger on "Now, this potion is distinctive because of its mother-of-pearl sheen and the steam rising from it in characteristic spirals."

"Now, although the actual brewing of this potion is not ready for your understanding just yet, you're all still too young my dears, I do expect a 15-inch essay on it, due Monday. Shouldn't be too difficult, there's plenty to write about and you can all make it very creative" then his smile grew even more "Now, this is the best part. I've been busting for you to answer this. Anyone can tell me what does it smell like?"

Once again, it was Lily Evans the one who gave the answer.

"It smells differently to each person, according to what attracts them the most," she smiled

"Correct, Miss. Evans! Now, I'd like everyone to gather round and take a good sniff. Come now! Chop, chop"

Reluctantly, Natalia slid out of her seat along with the rest of the class, and gathered slowly around the cauldron. That whole lesson was supposed to help her talk her brother into doing things to help her, but Merlin were things slow that morning. She waited, while a few other students took their turns, and then inhaled deeply.

The first smell was incredibly easy to identify. It was the scent of lavender; expected, since she had a small pot of it growing on the balcony outside her chambers. The Yaxley Mansion's gardens were filled with lavender as well, and she'd loved playing among them as a child with her brothers and would often hide in there with her pets and toys and have tea parties every now and then. Now that she was a grown-ish woman, she'd simply enjoy hiding there with a good magazine and read her days away while in summer vacations. It was a good thing the lavender lasted all year, never frosting during winter or drying during the really sunny days, thanks to the elves' magic.

The second smell was also very familiar. It was the smell from her favourite bakery in Paris, "Lille Amorouse". It was a tradition that her father would take her and only her there every morning during their annual summer vacations in France and both would chose a nice treat for breakfast. She'd often settle for anything sweet while his father would always have a chocolate croissant and then they'd enjoy a nice long talk about whatever came into their heads.

She kept on waiting for the third smell to hit her, but there was nothing coming. With a shrug, she supposed that was all there would be, and was soon joined by her brother back at their seat.

"What did you smell?"

"Lavender and this bakery you know I adore from Paris. You?"

"The manor's smell, I guess. And the muddy scent of the Quidditch pitch when it's wet. Oh, and Strinky's pudding"

Natalia wrinkled her nose. How could anyone like the smell of a Quidditch Pitch was beyond her understanding. Her brother's taste was seriously preoccupying. She could however agree on the fact that Strinky's pudding was delicious, so she just nodded - the thought making her crave some, so she made a mental note to herself to write to Stingy as soon as she got out of class and ask for her to send some as soon as possible.

"So, I was thinking… and I really need a tutor. I can't do it myself, and we both know mother it's going to end up losing her patience and I really don't want Rosier so please don't mention it. And I know you can't do it, but… maybe so could try talking to mother? Tell her to let me drop the class? Simon, you have to!"

He had already done that and of course he had been shut off by their mother immediately, they both knew that. He had even almost got into trouble for even questioning Petra. The twins shared a long look for minutes and they had what it seemed to be a conversation with their eyes only, something they used to do since a very young age. He was telling her not to ask dumb things she already knew the answer to and she was letting him know she was desperate and that could be not blamed for maintaining hope.

"Maybe…You could ask Alastar…?" she asked on a small voice which resembled the one of a shy little child, something she had never been. If there was anything nearly as embarrassing as asking to the boy himself for help, it was having her brother do it but she was too much of a coward to ask herself and face possible rejection.

"He's too busy with Quidditch and the choir and his own grades, Natalia" he let out, clearly uncomfortable with the question and avoiding her eyes.

She frowned

"How do you know that? You're not friends with him"

Simon sighed while writing something down.

"Because I already asked"

It was lucky that her skin was tanned enough for it not to show too much when she got really embarrassed because if not it would be bursting into flames. She was aware that for Alastar Travels she wasn't the first thing that came into mind when girls he wanted to spend time with was being talked about after all that happened, but to be turned down so easily surely hurt. Why hadn't Simon told her anything about, she didn't know and she wasn't sure if she should feel either grateful or pissed at the fact he kept it secret from her.

Obviously, Simon was able to see that his answer aggravated his sister and he didn't want her to be on a bad mood, since that meant he'd be put on a bad mood by consequence, so he decided to give her some of the options he had also thought of during the previous night, when he was about to fall asleep.

"You could ask Black"

"What?

Natalia's face was priceless, any sign of her embarrassment gone and replaced by pure surprise. Was his brother playing with her or something? It didn't seem so, for he kept a straight face.

"Well, he's the only no muggle related option mother and father would approve of, and he does well. McGonagall likes him and I heard you two are now partners, so it would make everything easier. Believe me, I feel bad for you for having to require help from such an individual. I'd even prefer you taking them from Snape, but he's also denied " he told her "That, or Evan. Your choice" he reminded, already drained from the subject, a big yawn escaping his mouth.

Really, her options weren't wide. Given that she couldn't ask either Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, because they followed a whole different class, she could only count with the other two houses. Gryffindor being such a muggle loving house didn't leave much options either, and most smart Slytherins either didn't take the class or refused to teach her. Not an ideal scenario.

Her brother started writing down something and stopped paying attention to her, hoping she would make the decision quickly without making things more complicated for him. Natalia wanted to scream in annoyance, unsure about which option was worse. She was now in a situation in which she could end up in old cold Durmstrang and It all depended on the most idiotic person in Hogwarts, Sirius Black.

On top of that, greasy headed Severus Snape had apparently also rejected her. What a dorcus.


	3. chapter 3

_Well they couldn't teach you anything,_  
 _You think you're such a looker._

 _Tueday. September, 26. 1976_

For the second time in a period of two weeks, Natalia made it earlier than usual to transfigurations class, also carrying sweets, but this time, meant to be delivered to a younger person. She had what she believed was a kind smile on her face and even put a white lace hairband on so it would make her appear more harmless, not to mention that her flowery perfume was just perfect for the occasion. If seen by anyone who didn't know her, she'd have been the perfect image of innocence.

Sirius along with James didn't reach class until a minute before the professor did, as they usually accustomed, for he had just been flirting with a hufflepuff brunette who shared Charms with them and who happened to be walking the opposite direction. The Slytherin girl found it hard not to roll her eyes at his lateness; it was really bothering to see how McGonagall was closer to permissive with them, as most teachers were, than she was with anyone else; Merlin knew the kind of punishment she'd get if she ever dared to make it a second late to the Transfigurations classroom. However, ignoring her urges to throw a fit, she managed to keep a bright smile and waited until he would sit down with her.

At the beginning he didn't pay any attention to her at all, deciding to stick to the promise they made about not talking or looking at each other; but it soon became impossible not to notice how her huge blue eyes were staring right into his head, blinking less often than they should. He figured she may have something to tell him and he wanted the uncomfortable feeling of being watched (by a snake out of all creatures) to be gone.

"Lost something, Yaxley?" he asked exasperated, dropping his head a little to meet her eyes, his shoulder length hair falling down as a cascade as he did so. It made him look sort of angelic, really, but she quickly erased the thought of her mind for she was supposed to be focusing on something else.

"I... -Do you want a chocoball?" she asked with a big smile, handing him an open medium sized box "These are my absolute favourite!"

Sirius arched his eyebrows. Among all the things he expected to come out of Natalia Yaxley's mouth that morning, the offering of sweets was far away from what he was expecting. He couldn't even remember her offering him anything other than dark looks and an occasional slur ever since they had gotten into Hogwarts.

"What?"

"Do you want some? You can have the whole box if you want to, actually" she repeated, making her smile grow bigger and pushing the box closer to his side of the desk. Her words came out fast out of her mouth, but not so fast that he couldn't understand what she was saying since her accent remained as clear as always, he simply couldn't believe it.

It was clear that Natalia wasn't an expert on being nice. The poor witch didn't have a clue of how to act civilized towards the boy without sounding and looking as desperate as she did then. If she had had the chance to see herself, she'd have cringed. Merlin was she a terrible actress!

Sirius mouth was about to fall out of its place.

"Did you poison these, Yaxley?" he asked trying to make the words sound relaxed and cool as if he knew what that all was about and had complete control over the situation, not worried at all; but the more he thought of it, the more it seemed like a big possibility that she had indeed poisoned those chocolates. Had he not been a Gryffindor, he'd have not even dared to touch them, but the disgust of being mocked for getting scared of some chocoballs was far greater than being actually poisoned.

"No, look!" she clarified quickly, almost desperately, grabbing one and putting it inside her mouth in less than a second "It's delicious. See?" she struggled to say while trying to swallow the big piece of sweet with a little bit of difficulty, some of chocolate on the commissure of her lip.

And as if the situation wasn't strange enough already, of course professor McGonagall had to choose that moment to get involved. Clearly both teenagers were far too focused on whatever was going on among them to even notice someone else was looking at them and walking closer and closer to their desk. It wasn't until the old witch had her wand over their table that they slowly looked up from their noses.

"Miss Yaxley, shall I remind you that food isn't allowed in my class? I'll take five from points Slytherin. Mr. Black, you may want to get your attention back to your textbook, or else I'll be taking some from my own house as well"

Her chubby cheeks went on fire. Natalia swallowed her sweet and decided to go quiet for the rest of the class; her plan could wait until another hundred years – the embarrassment of having everyone look at her as she ate chocolates like a pig alongside with losing points for her own house was enough for a lifetime. Merlin! she could even hear the giggles directed at her. Sirius, on the other hand, wanted an explanation of what bloody hell had just happened, finding the situation rather bizarre. Besides, he had woken up late and missed breakfast, and that chocoball looked really tempting, so he took one and threw it inside his mouth in a matter of seconds, just as Natalia had done earlier, but managing not to be as messy when chewing it.

"Hope it's not Amortentia. That'd be pretty lame, even for you" he said casually, while lazily turning to look at her, trying to keep his curiosity levels at ease.

If she weren't a Slytherin, he could have even passed an arm behind her back and would have flirted a little, in a playful manner, but they both hated each other guts and were complete opposites, so there was that.

The comment made the Slytherin girl roll her eyes and suddenly forget all about the "be nice to Sirius" plan she had put so much effort into while planning it the previous night. It were comments such as that one that reminded her over and over again why despite his good looks and popularity, she'd never be a part of the ever rising Sirius Black's fans club.

"Don't be a knob."

Natalia couldn't stop looking at him. For one thing, she was bothered by Sirius's behavior, but she also knew that eye contact was usually the best way for her to look sincere, which was what most often led to her getting what she wanted. 'Always look them in the eye' her father had told her brother Sebastian once, in one of those fatherly moments when he'd give his advice on girls, and Natalia happened to be listening.

"I need a favor, Sirius" Natalia said, forcing herself to use his first name, because she knew calling someone by their last was something you did with people you didn't like that much, and if she was going to ask what she wanted to ask from him, he better believed she adored him.

Sirius arched an eyebrow and took his time to answer, before throwing a bitter laugh. He got himself comfortable on his seat, things were getting interesting. Just as he thought class was going to be boring…

"What makes you think I would help you, Yaxley?"

Natalia rolled her eyes, hating the git even more and ignoring his question.

"I need you to tutor me on Transfiguration"

A smile bigger than a Cheshire cat's broke into Sirius's pale face. For him, those words came out like a great joke, and he was a sucker for comedy. A Slytherin, one of the creatures he happened to despise the most in the world, one who had gotten his arse beaten in third year, was asking for his help? It was rather a comedic masterpiece. He just couldn't refuse immediately, that'd spoil all the fun.

"Oh, really?"

"I don't have any more options, to be completely honest with you. Jane has refused and my brother is unable to do so since he doesn't take the class. I already told my parents you could do it, because you are really smart in school, and they said it would be a fantastical idea, you being a Black and everything"

She knew that one of the best ways of convincing Sirius would be adulating him. The git's head was filled with his ego, so she guessed he would like to be called smart and that kind of names. True, it was a little embarrassing to be kissing Sirius Black's cape but a witch had to do what she had to do, especially with a mother like Petra Yaxley and grades like hers.

Sirius busted into laughter, as if he had just been told the funniest joke of the century. He was unable to say a proper word even seconds after she stopped talking and not even the feeling that they were being looked by people sitting near them made him stop. The look on the witch' face, however, was very different; there she was, having humiliated herself in front of a complete idiot only to be laughed at. Merlin gave her strength not to hex that smile off that very second.

"Well, then it's going to be crashing to Mr. and Mrs. Yaxley to find their little brat is a liar who can't pass Transfiguration"

"Ugh! You... you're the worst pureblood to ever live in the planet! You are supposed to help me! You owe me this" Natalia's pitched voice almost yelled "Believe me, you're the last person on the whole of Britain I'd like as a tutor but it was either you or Rosier"

If anything, that little speech of her made Sirius's smile grow even bigger. Getting people he didn't like heated up was just his favourite hobby, and he happened to be great at it, by the way.

"Well, too bad for Rosier"

"You bloody mo-"

She was cut off by Professor McGonagall who was demanding their attention. Once again, she had noticed that something fishy was going on, and her severe eyes were looking at them from the distance with displeasure. She was beginning to regret pairing those two together but there was no going back now, she had indeed promised there were not going to be any more changes regarding partners, so she knew there was only one thing for her left to do to make the pair work.

"Is there a problem, Miss Yaxley, Mr. Black?" McGonagall drawled, getting closer to their seats "I am getting tired of you two, young wizards. I shall see you both this Friday at 8pm at my chambers for detention"

Natalia's face fell off, unable to believe what just happened. Detention was just what she needed, and with no other but Sirius Black. Life was so unfair to her! She feared whatever her parent's opinion upon such a catastrophe would be. Oh! All the things she needed but now she wouldn't be able to ask for because they'd be too crossed about the detention thing. That would be her third time getting detention at all; the first two had gained her a long reprimand from Mrs. Yaxley, who expressed her utter disappointment on her only daughter, who she thought should try harder not to be a burden for the whole Yaxley line; Natalia didn't only find her mother's words to be very cruel but also astonishingly ironic since Simon had doubled her total amount of detentions in just his second year but not much scolding had come out of that.

As McGonagall saw the faces of both teenagers she was able to notice they had some things to say about the matter, expected, considering both wizards outspoken personalities, so she quickly added: "And I will make it three Fridays if I hear complaining"

Sirius muttered something quite unintelligible under his breath as soon as the older witch took her gaze off them and Natalia just looked her with loath; If she had known how to elaborate nonverbal hexes, she surely would've given Minerva McGonagall a few.

When the class was dismissed neither Natalia nor Sirius looked as happy as they usually did when that precious moment came. The boy slammed his book without any care in the world into his bag, while Natalia put everything into hers slowly, making sure to make a harsh sound every time one of her books touched the end of it. While the boy got out of the classroom like a wild Centaurs, not even bothering on waiting for his friends, gaining an even darker look of distaste from Natalia, the witch moved out slowly, finding Jane waiting for her at the door.

"What was all that with Black about?" the other witch asked, as if the situation wasn't obvious enough "It looks like you two have a date on Friday" she giggled.

The shortest witch, however, didn't find the situation funny at all. She had lost 25 points to Slytherin and was also losing precious moments of her weekend in detention with both her least favourite teacher and least favourite boy in the whole castle. Not to mention that Sirius Black had refused to help her and she could end up having to spend time with creepy, pervy, Rosier.

* * *

If Natalia Yaxley was angry, Sirius Black was boiling. The idea of spending a Friday with a younger and slightly less sadistic version of his mother was not something he would do willingly. James, however, didn't seem to think of it like it was such a big deal.

"Come on, mate. It will be just a few hours, and you will be probably too busy with whatever McGonagall forces you to do. You won't even have time to look at her"

Peter agreed, nodding his head eagerly. Last time the poor guy had been on detention with McGonagall he ended up so tired that he actually fell asleep on the corridor; of course the rest of the Marauders came to his rescue in no time, courtesy of their map.

"I know… but I was planning on snogging Marlene this Friday" he let out with a sigh, already giving up with the complaining.

James threw a laugh as he hanged from one of the tree's branches, making three pairs of eyebrows raise, not realizing what the funny thing was. Quickly, the boy with the glasses got up back on his two feet and explained: "You just went from Marlene McKinnon to Natalia Yaxley. That's a quick downgrade" he laughed, gaining a few laughs from Peter, a quiet polite laugh from Remus and a gloomy look from Sirius.

"I actually think Natalia Yaxley is really hot"

"Ugh, Peter!" Sirius and James complained, while Remus observed the situation with amusement.

"What? She's attractive"

This time, Remus and James were both chuckling. Sirius, however, didn't find anything remotely funny about finding a snake like Natalia Yaxley attractive.

"Moony, you can't tell me you wouldn't shag her!"

It was James who bursted into a really loud fit of laughter this time, throwing himself on the ground, grabbing his belly to stop from himself from doing so and managing to get his glasses a bit loose from all the movement. Remus tittered a little, trying to hide the redness on his pale cheeks, but failing miserably.

"Well-I would not 'shag' her, but yeah, she's pretty. Mean, but pretty"

James, still lying on the floor nodded, his laughter finally dying.

"Right. She's got a nice ar-

And then, he was cut off by Sirius.

"Can't you stop talking about her already? I think I'm getting sick" he complained, while getting up "I'm going to go grab something to eat, any of you coming?"

And without actually waiting for anyone, he just left. He had enough with being paired with her, having detention with her and being obligated to see her at his house and social events from time to time to have now their friends talking about her and her blood supremacist arse.

* * *

On Friday, It was raining. As Natalia lay in bed, she could hear how the lake moved on a stormy way. It was a sign, she thought; that day was going to suck because she hated rain. Unusually, she had woke up at six am; often she would open her eyes only half an hour before breakfast, giving herself some time to get changed and fix her hair, but that morning she woke up with one thing on her mind: Friday was going to be a long day.

Matilda, her cat, stretched on top of her bed, making her morning noises. Matilda was a bright orange ball of fluff, which required lots of brushing that Natalia was happy to give. She was a greedy little thing, but that had been the way she was raised

The witch stayed in bed for a while, stroking her cat and staring out of her window into the lake, not even the sight of the giant squid making her happy.

She still hadn't heard from her parents, but she was sure she would as soon as they heard about her detention with professor McGonagall. With her mother's constant threats about moving her from the school, detention was just the perfect excuse she needed. On the other hand… the more Natalia thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect way to get Sirius Black into tutoring her.

She knew her plan wasn't perfect, there were many things that could go wrong with it, but that was all she had. She couldn't stand Sirius Black before they got paired together and after all those hurtful things he said to her recently her opinion on the boy had gotten even worse but she wasn't lying when she said she'd rather get tutoring from a muggle rather than from Rosier, the boy was just plain creepy.

"You want me to do what?"

Natalia kept spreading butter unto her toast while rolling her eyes and shaking her head, annoyed by the tone her friend was utilizing, as if she was somehow doubting her idea. She thought she had been pretty clear. Her morning was already bad enough; she didn't need nor want to deal with Jane's impossibilities to do what she was asked to.

"Don't pretend you aren't loving the excuse to talk to Potter"

"Shhh" Jane shushed her while frenetically looking around, making sure no witnesses heard what her friend had just said "and it's not that I don't enjoy it, but what if he doesn't buy it? What if he thinks I'm just making something up to talk to him because I fancy him?"

Natalia waited to give a small bite to her toast very calmly before answering, making Jane grow inpatient.

"Then he will know you fancy him, even though I would be surprised if he didn't already…" she gave another bite, bored eyes looking around.

"What?! Do you think he noticed?! How so?!" Jane's alarmed face went paler than before upon the fear of one of what she thought to be a big secret to be known by precisely, the only person she wished it would keep hidden from.

"Enough. Concentrate on what I asked you to do so I can enjoy the rest of my breakfast, thank you very much. If you must, I'll remind you what you have to do, which is simple, you've to-

"Find James and tell him that your mother sent you a howler and to tell Sirius to go easy on you, yeah, yeah, I got it" she said, showing no much interest to what she just repeated and putting some fruit into her bowl.

"Right, and remember, make me sound as pathetic and scared as possible" the other girl nodded "And of course, I have nothing to do with you telling him that.

Jane nodded for the second time and started eating her fruits and yogurt, wishing she wouldn't have anything to do with that silly plan. Natalia smiled satisfied and turned her eyes towards the person sitting in front of her, and soon she found herself asking Constance Allingway about how her holidays in Morocco went. It'd be an euphemism to say that Natalia was not even a little bit interested in knowing what Allingway and her family had done over the holidays, but she was in such a good mood because of the new shield of security that new plan of hers offered that she could have even talked to a squib and still keep that smile on towards the entire conversation.

You see, while brushing her hair that morning she came up with the idea of playing cry baby to her father in order to get him to convince her mother to allow her to finally drop the class, as difficult as that was. Then, she came up with the conclusion that her brothers would also stick up for her to their parents if she showed some tears, as it had happened many times before. That only made her think about how men were all the same when it came to her being upset, looking weak; they just couldn't handle seeing her cry because they felt the need to protect her as soon as her voice cracked a little. Then she fell in count that Sirius Black was also a man, and therefore, he wasn't immune to her charms. So she came up with a plan. Only bad thing about her plan was that it depended on Potter and Jane in order for it to be successful, something that annoyed Natalia slightly.

It wasn't until most people finished their breakfast when Jane decided it was time to talk to James, or more like it, when Natalia decided it was time to push the other girl to do it. She was nervous, as she always was when she had to talk to him; good thing was that this time she wouldn't have to come up with ideas about what to say to him since her best friend had already scripted what her exact words would be. She waited next to those big wooden doors for James and his friends to pass by, ignoring all the other people who rushed pass her to get to their own classes on time, who in exchange, ignored her as well. When she finally saw him, she noticed he was laughing about something Sirius Black had said, along with Peter Pettigrew.

"Hey James, do you have a minute?"

All three boys seemed surprised to see her standing there, making her feel slightly insulted. Sirius got a cheeky smile on and looked at James on playful way immediately; Potter, however, just smiled politely to his childhood friend and readjusted his glasses while answering

"Sure thing, Jane" he said and then handed one of his books to Peter, who took it quickly "I will see you guys at class"

Before Sirius could say any non-appropriate joke that his head had probably managed to come up with in a very short amount of time, James and Jane walked away from them, out of the great hall. Since they knew their walk to class wouldn't take too long, they didn't waste time on uncomfortable silences or things as such, and began talking straight away.

"So how has your morning been so far? I wanted to let you know that I'm really glad you are my partner for Transfiguration, since I haven't mentioned before; I honestly don't know why we don't talk more during class. No offence, but your friend is… not so friendly looking" He chuckled.

Jane's heart jumped when she heard him say he was glad to be her partner, but the mention of Natalia made her remember why she was standing there talking to him, and immediately put on a blue face, a sad smile plastered on it, which would hopefully help her get what Natalia was aiming for.

"That's alright, but that's actually what I needed to talk about"

James looked at her confused.

"I mean Nat"

"Who?"

"Natalia" she corrected herself.

"Ahh" he said, looking surprised that someone like Natalia Yaxley could even have a nickname. He truly did forget that Slytherin girls could be humans every once in a while "What about her?" he asked.

"She's having a rough time"

James thought about it for a few seconds, and then opened his mouth again, not wanting to sound rude, but really not understanding where the conversation was leading to and what part he played in it: "How come?"

"Her mother sent her a Howler last night. It was terrible. Mrs. Yaxley found out about her detention and went mad. She said so many nasty things to Natalia… and she's… She's really scared" Jane said on a quiet voice, looking around "She even threatened to curse her"

James seemed surprised, and slightly worried. The Potter family was really loving and caring, and so were most of their friends, so he had only heard about abusive families from Sirius before, and even he didn't tell him much. It wasn't that he suddenly cared about Yaxley, but cursing was something no one should experience from their parents, girls especially.

Jane, on the other hand, was also truly surprised at how easily the lie was coming off from her lips, considering how nervous she had been about talking to the boy.

"Umh, is there anything I can do to help her? I mean, umh…"

"Yes" Jane said quickly, saving him some embarrassment "You know how she doesn't really get along with your friend, Black. I know she can be difficult sometimes… But she's really not having a good time and I wanted to ask you if you could make him behave… a little bit nicer to her? Especially now they're partners and all. I promise she'll behave"

James nodded firmly. He believed every single word Jane had just said, just like he always had, because he believed her to be a really honest witch, just like her family was. He worried about how successful telling Sirius what to do could be, but he was willing to try both because of his friendship with Jane and of the pity he felt for Natalia Yaxley as he was told about all the nasty things her mother had apparently said to her.

"Thanks, James. Really" The blonde witch smiled sweetly "And please, Natalia doesn't know I told you this so…"

He smiled as well and placed his right hand over her shoulder for a few moments, trying to show her how really he was doing that from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't even mention it, Jane. I'll see you in class"

And he smiled again before he left.

Jane felt like she could fly.

* * *

James couldn't stop how surprised he felt from showing on his face; his mouth slightly open, eyebrows a bit up and very confused hazel eyes. He had just told Sirius what Jane had told him, and the long haired boy had just nodded and said not another word about it. Sirius being Sirius, James had expected he'd have to beg a bit for him to do as he was told so he'd eventually do it upon realizing it was the right thing to do, but his friend's attitude had taken him completely by surprise.

For Sirius, however, his reaction about the matter was completely understandable. He lived in an abusive household himself and had done so for sixteen years of his life. He knew the feeling of uneasiness after receiving a howler full of threats and the fear of going home after actually receiving it, no matter how much one tried to hide it. Even if one knew it was more words than actions, that didn't make it any less unsettling. And yes, Natalia Yaxley may had not be his favourite person in Hogwarts, but he wasn't that much of a monster to give her a hard time when she was already going through one.

When he got to potions he observed Yaxley and he noticed how miserable she actually looked sitting next to Abbott. He wasn't even near offering to be his tutor, but he could and would try to be decent to her for a few days and ignore the outrageous things that came out of her mouth more often than not.

* * *

Natalia was already on a bad mood as she walked over to meet Professor McGonagall for her detention that Friday, but she found out very surprisingly that it was possible for it to get even worse the minute she saw Evan Rosier emerging creepily from a corner, greeting her with a shallow smile; if she had had time, she'd had taken the long way in order to avoid him, but she knew how the Transfigurations professor got and she didn't need another problem to add to her long list, even if it meant having to deal with the most detestable Slytherin boy ever.

"I'm not on the mood Rosier" she warned.

He clicked his tongue and snickered, oblivious to the amount of annoyance coming off the girl's voice. That was the thing with Rosier; he really was unable to tell when to quit being a jerk, hence why he kept the attitude going on 24/7.

"On your way to detention?" He asked innocently but she didn't answer; the boy then, began walking right next to her, on an attempt to get her to pay attention to him and whatever he had to say. He crossed his arms behind his back, keeping his hands united by the tips of his fingers "You know, these things… they wouldn't happen if you just decided to take my offer."

Natalia rolled her eyes and kept on ignoring him, sticking her eyes to the end of the hallway. She had some many nasty things to say to him but even talking to the little freak would make him get the wrong signals, and that was the least she needed, so she instead chose to keep silent which for Natalia was really an oddity.

"Is that a yes now? I won't be hanging here forever, you know? You should better take the offer now"

And although people believed Natalia to be dumb, she would have disagreed with it, because she knew right away Rosier wasn't even talking about tutoring anymore. Perhaps if she hadn't been as pissed for getting detention and having her mother and brother up her arse, she'd have kept on ignoring him and all of what was going to happen could've been avoided but she was too tired and her patience had come to an end. The Slytherin girl stopped walking and looked right into his stupid blue eyes, a few hues lighter than her own. Evan had never seen until that moment hers being so cold; when he looked into her eyes all he saw were annoyance whenever she would speak to him or entertainment if she was chatting with someone else, but not even muggleborns had ever gotten the look she was giving him at that moment.

"Can't you just bugger off?" she let out drily "I'm getting tired of seeing your stupid little face every time I look over my shoulder. You're pathetic. I get why you may be obsessed with me, but you should stop"

Her words and voice were cruel, cold and mean. She said every single one of them slow and clear, so he would not miss the fact that she wanted to hurt him and more importantly, she wanted to be left alone for a minute. Of course she knew she didn't want to be left alone just by him, she also wanted her mother's insistent necessity to control every minute of her life through her brother to be gone too along with many other things. Perhaps she was taking all her frustration and anger out on Rosier, but she'd be lying if she said he didn't deserve at least one bit of it.

Evan's eyes and face changed only after a few seconds, still too shocked by her response to react faster than he did. He had never been humiliated by anyone his age before, let alone a woman he was interested in. His parents had treated him as adult ever since the young age of 10; his school friends thought he was good fun; some of the girls he had been with had given signals they liked him. What was it that Natalia Yaxley found in him that was so unappealing to her? All the shame that he felt before as he first heard her words were quickly replaced with rage, or more like it, mixed with it, creating a terrible hybrid. He took Natalia's arm brusquely and shook her near a wall. His face was extremely close to hers, and she could feel his breath. The girl felt scared, having never experienced physical abuse by anyone before in her life; was it going to hurt? Was he actually going to harm her? And if he did, what should she do?

"You're bloody bitch, did you know that? A fucking little bitch. You should consider yourself lucky I'm even talking to such a cow as yourself. You should bloody-

Suddenly, he stopped talking and next thing Natalia saw was the very same boy being pressed against the wall where he had her before, with Sirius Black's wand against his throat. She was unable to see the Gryffindor's face from her spot, but if she had seen it, she'd had found a similar expression as the one she beared minutes ago when she was yelling at Rosier and telling him all those hurtful things. His words, however, came out coolly.

"You're bloody twat Rosier. Even worse than what I imagined"

Natalia couldn't even comprehend what was going on. She felt humiliated, surprised, scared, a thousand different emotions all at once. Several things were going through her head but she found herself unable to voice any of them out. Had she not only been degraded but another person had been there to see it, and that other person happened to be no one other than Sirius Black.

"Stay out of this Black" Rosier managed to say, struggling with every word before Sirius pressed his wand even tighter against his neck. Even swallowing seemed to be taking Evan more effort than he put on a whole Quidditch game. However, upon his clear discomfort, Sirius did not back up.

"You better stay out of my sight if you want to keep that disgusting face of yours. You're bloody lucky I have detention today"

Evan stood quiet and still looked at him with resentment but Sirius didn't take his eyes off his. Natalia was still unable to see what Sirius' face looked like, but she guessed it must have been pretty scary for a guy like Rosier to be mumbling like that.

"Out of my bloody sight, got it?"

Just then, he let go, and Rosier practically ran back to his common room, not even looking back. The Gryffindor still seemed to be upset but didn't even bother looking at Natalia's face. Why? She didn't know, but she could feel he didn't want to look at her; she guessed maybe he pitied her and wanted to hide the fact that he felt something else but loath for her.

"You okay?"

Natalia nodded, and it took a few seconds for the wizard to actually place his eyes on her and acknowledge she was giving him an answer. He nodded as well, and both started walking in silence, trying to recover their breath; both their cheeks were pink, hers from embarrassment and his from anger. When they arrived to the empty classroom, they sat apart from each other, without saying a word, it was the most natural thing they seemed capable of doing upon such an unnatural scenario. Professor McGonagall arrived to the place about two minutes later, oblivious of what had just happened and not looking nearly as annoyed as she had the previous morning.

"I'm glad to see you two got here before I did." She smiled and then decided to greet them "Black, Yaxley"

They both nodded back but said nothing.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to supervise two year six students on a Friday, since that's something I tend to do with first years. That's why I'm sending you two off with Hagrid"

And then, as if they had it planned as a kind of detention acting number, a big bearded man came into the room, smiling kindly at both students. Normally, Sirius would've greeted the older man with lot more enthusiasm but at the moment he barely managed to smile, too busy trying to get his head and temper to forget about the previous incident.

"That sounds r'ight. Yeh bot' will come wit' me ter the forest. We will be takin' care of a thingy. Nothing tee serious, but I could use yer 'elp"

It took both purebloods a solid minute to understand what was being said to them, but Sirius nodded and if her state of mind had her allowed her to, Natalia would have liked to offer a smile; instead, Miss Yaxley just nodded and tried to put aside the previous incident, willing to enjoy the experience despite all.

"Well… Ern. If yeh two don't have any questions we better go" said Hagrid "Nigh', Professor" he said to McGonagall.

After the dismissal from the older witch, Hagrid walked out the classroom, hoping the students would follow him immediately, but McGonagall wanted to have a few last words with the lot: "I'm certainly glad I didn't hear any complaints from any of you. Only Merlin knows how tired I am of students mentioning their parents when we send them off to the forest" she mentioned with a slight roll of eyes.

As she could see none of her students were going to answer, she just let out a sigh and nodded "You can go, and I hope I don't have to see you two here again for the same reasons; any reasons whatsoever, but that would be asking too much, right Black?" She teased.

"You can bet on that, Professor" he managed to throw a tired chuckle.

When they got out of the classroom Hagrid was already several meters ahead from them since he had left sooner and his legs were longer than both kids' combined, so after Sirius remarked it out loud, both of them had to trot to catch up with him.

"'urry up, yeh two. It's already gettin' dark"

Natalia was still trying to catch her breath; with the exception of occasional dancing at parties or in the loo after a long bath, she didn't do much physical exercise at all, which meant that even the slightest jog she was ever forced to do under determinate situations resulted on her getting very red on the cheeks and beginning for air. Sirius, in the other hand, member of the Quidditch team, a beater, and a person who found running as amusing as she found shopping, appeared not to be any more disturbed than a person who had just tied the laces of his shoes.

"So what're we doing today, Hag?"

The groundskeeper smiled with appreciation. He liked the Black boy and his friends, they were good meant fun those kids. Kind of reminded him of himself back in the old days, when he was too, a student.

"There's a sick kneazle somewhere 'round"

"Kneazle?"

To his surprise, it was Natalia the one who answered.

"A big cat with a lion's tale, and big teeth"

Both Hagrid and Sirius looked at her as if another head had popped out of her neck; the first, smiled approvingly upon realizing she was right. If she hadn't felt so down for what happened before, she'd had liked to mock Black for his lack of knowledge on magical creatures, which was silly really, considering he had grown up surrounded by those animals, but she guessed he had just forgotten he ever learnt about them back in third year; in fact, she wasn't even sure he ever took the class.

"That's righ'. Nice little things those beasts"

"And how you know the cat's sick?" Sirius asked.

Hagrid put on a kind of sour face, but one could barely see it because of the big beard. He clearly felt distressed about that subject in particular, and he allowed them to see that through his small dark eyes, which looked like little bugs inserted on a gigantic face; little shiny bugs, that was.

"Poor baby's been cryin' fer days. Tried lookin' fer him but I'm really busy and when I had time didn't have any luck. So maybe wit' more people 'ere we'll have some luck"

They kept walking in silence until they got into the forbidden forest itself. Hagrid gave them instructions of what to do in case they found the creature, and sent them off without another thought just after telling them how they'd be communicating after the expedition was over. Those were come uncomfortable silent first five minutes while Sirius Black and Natalia Yaxley walked into the darkness of the forest, entering deeper and deeper into the wolf's big mouth, unaware of all the dangers and fascinating things that very same forest offered them, with only their wands serving them as a guide.

Not being one for silence, It was her finally the first one to say something, expected. Not that she wasn't wishing she could obliviate both Black and Rosier that very moment, making them forget even spending a second of their time with her during Friday, but the cruel reality was that she could a) get expelled from performing such a risky spell upon another student and b) didn't even know the basics of it, for it was way too difficult for a girl her age to even think about. Instead, knowing that not talking about it wouldn't erase the embarrassment she felt, she decided to open her mouth:

"Thank you for before" she said, the subject obviously making her feel uncomfortable, much like it was making the boy hearing the words felt. She hugged one of her arms with the other while she looked at him right in the eye, well, at least tried to as he tried to avoid that very same gaze.

"You don't have to thank me. Rosier's a prick"

She nodded.

"Still… You didn't have to do that, so, thank you"

Sirius nodded and this time, he accepted the gratitude words without any further comments. It wasn't as if he had done something friendly for her, he had just done the right thing to do and believed any other wizard would've performed on the same way had them been good people.

"Can you just… Not tell anyone about it? I don't want people to know"

Sirius nodded, not mentioning how it really seemed stupid for him that being her main worry out of the whole thing. He was actually about to voice out his opinion about her having to tell an adult of it, or at least a friend, but her shriek got him to lose focus. Surprisingly for him, her little scream wasn't out of fear, but excitement. He didn't have time to even acknowledge what was going on until he saw the Slytherin girl walking towards a big white mass of fur.

"Yaxley for Merlin's sake! Come back here!"

But she didn't listen. She kept walking towards the thing, which on Sirius's perspective seemed all ready to attack any walking thing. The Gryffindor was already prepared to hex the bloody monster, a fact that brought a smile to his face, because that'd be thrilling, but when she went over the creature he couldn't really differentiate one from the other and as amusing as 'accidently' hexing a Slytherin could've been any other time, it wasn't something he looked forwards to do on that particular night.

Knees on the ground as she held the thing with care with both her arms, Natalia barely paid attention as his voice, filled with frustration yelled: "Yaxley, bloody hell! Move!"

Quickly, she looked over her shoulder while holding the creature and patting it on the head in order to calm it down. Her whole face showing high levels of annoyance, and one could tell that by the way she pursed her lips.

"Shut up, Black! You're scaring him"

Sirius rolled his eyes. He waited a few seconds for her to come to her senses and move away, but after she didn't, he decided he was better off getting closer just in case something went wrong.

Not that he particularly cared about Yaxley's safety, but he didn't want her to be eaten by a monster, especially not while he was present, since that'd provoke so many juridical problems not to mention the several conspiratorial theories the rest of their classmates would make up. So with hesitation, he walked closer to them and stood behind her seemed as if all the chanches of fighting off a monster had just been destroyed.

Taking a closer look to it, despite his previous confussion, he recognized the creature. Having taken Care of Magical Creatures for a year, he had sometime around third year or so, studied about it, and he remembered how temperamental they could get and how, often, humans tended to leave them alone instead of approaching them; self-preservation, something that clearly the witch in front of him didn't have an ounce of.

"Be careful, Yaxley" he tried to sound authoritative but his voice came off as too confused for her to take seriously.

So she ignored him instead and focused completely on the Kneazle she was bringing closer and closer to her chest. Sirius's was worried. It was too big for a cat and she was far too close to it, not to mention she wasn't nearly big of a human; if the thing just decided he didn't like something about his current situation, she' be gone.

It wasn't until Natalia's hand went over the Kneazle's leg that the later hissed at her and tried to bite her hand, something that would've succeeded had Sirius not put her back by the shoulders with strength, making her fall over his legs, making him fall as well, resulting in both of them over each other on the hard, cold ground. Both of them had a full view of each other's faces. They barely had time to acknowledge some features from the other they were unfamiliar of with before the Kneazler's cry interrupted them both.

"Look what you've done!" She yelled, getting him off with a harsh movement, quickly standing up and slowly walking back to the creature "Come here sweetheart… Come"

Sirius snorted, not believing what he his eyes were seeing. All those things people said about her, about not thinking? Well, not that he had doubted them before, but he could then confirm they were absolutely right or else she definitely had to be out of her bloody mind. He was a Gryffindor, and knew that some of his choices could be a little bit risky and reckless at times, but holding a hurt animal that could easily rip some members off your body while in the dark forest was a thing he knew could go wrong in many ways, especially if you weren't as gifted with your wand, _which_ , she didn't seem to be on hold of at the given moment.

"I will get Hagrid" he informed bitterly, still not taking his eyes off her, knowing the minute something went wrong It would be him the one who should do something about it.

Some white lights came out of his wand, so he guessed Hagrid should get there in a few minutes with luck.

"You should keep away, Yaxley"

She denied with her head and he let out a long sigh.

The only thing he could do until Hagrid arrived since it was too dark to do anything else, it was observing her and so he did. She looked devoted to the animal, with her knees on the cold ground, her black tights getting as dirty as they could get, trying to calm down the thing as if her life depended on it. He couldn't see her face, but was curious to know what it looked like at the moment, for some strange reason not even he could understand.

He then remembered when they were kids and how she used to love her old black cat, whose name he didn't remember and who he guessed would be dead already. She used to carry the old thing in her arms like a baby and put clothes on it and force Sirius and her brother play with it and brush its hair while the old rag did nothing but meow and enjoy the cuddles and food they would all serve him. Sirius hated cats, especially that one, too fat and too old to actually play something that could interest him.

He also recalled her talking about a holiday house in a place he didn't quite remember, and how her grandmother used to breed dragons there. She named every different specie she apparently knew of with information about each one of them. His six years old self of course didn't believe her, and that ended up in her getting mad at him and stepping over his foot, making him pull her hair which finished on her running away with teary eyes to their parents. He learnt later on, by his mother, that the Apostu - Natalia's maternal side of the family, were well known dragon breeders; had he not hated the witch's guts by that time, he'd have asked for details.

Sirius Black hadn't realized until then how much interest Natalia Yaxley had on animals. To be honest, he never realized the witch had interest in anything else but gossiping and clothes. The new discovery he made was surprising, he could notice that, but what he found even more surprising was the fact that he even cared about it.

Hagrid arrived in less than five minutes later, with some first aid potions professor Slughorn had given him that very same morning. Completely out of breath, he smiled when he saw the blonde witch taking care of the kneazle in such a muttering way, much like he'd had done.

"Here, here, Yaxley" he said bending down and picking the animal up, as careful as a person as big as Hagrid could be "Good job"

Natalia stood told up as well and nodded preoccupation visible on her face.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeeh. I'll have to check 'im first to know fer sure"

Natalia nodded one more time and they soon started walking back towards the semi giant's hut. Sirius stood behind as Hagrid and Yaxley talked all the way about the animal and similar things that the boy had no idea of, since he had grown bored of Care of Magical Creatures and dropped the class himself, for it was all theory and not many animals. Sirius felt grateful to be out of the conversation, since that gave him time to think.

He was thinking about the many interactions he and Natalia Yaxley had had the last few days; from being paired up for Transfiguration, her asking him to be her tutor, him helping her get rid of Rosier, detention together. He thought about why he disliked her so much, the whole Simon Yaxley beating left aside since he would admit he kind of deserved it at the time; sure, she was a Slytherin and a blood supremacist, but so were many other students at school and even though he despised them, Natalia Yaxley had made his dislike go to another level for many years, resulting on that rather… quasi cruel prank he had pulled on her all those years back. He couldn't find a reason why, but looking at her act like a decent human being for once was certainly reason enough to force him to think about those kinds of things.

Rosier was also something he couldn't help but to think about, as well as the tutoring offer. He recalled she mentioned how if she didn't get the tutoring from him, she would've to take it from Rosier, something the Gryffindor wouldn't had wished on anyone (spending time with Evan Rosier, that was) Still, he didn't want to tutor her; she was, after all, insufferable and also, a purist, the kind of people he had spent his whole life trying to run away from and still struggled to spend time with. True, he felt bad for her having to spend time with such a terrible company, but he wasn't willing to spend any more of his with her than necessary.

When they finally got to Hagrid's home, the half giant expressed his gratitude and promised them to inform them as soon as he had any news of the Kneazler's health status. He was supposed to walk them to the castle, he told, but since they were such good kids and he had to take care of the injured animal, he trusted they could get there by themselves without any kind of trouble.

Sirius feared then a long, awkward and silent walk back to the castle, but instead, the Slytherin just said her good nights as soon as the adult left them and went her own way, without waiting for a response. He observed how she circled the castle slowly, with no hurries to get back into her dorm, ignoring the fact that they were past their curfew, having spent at least two hours in the forest.

In her defense, she also needed to think about everything that had happened during the day, and that's why she took a while to get back to her common room, hoping not to be spotted by any teachers or prefects while doing so. She had a perfect excuse planned out in case someone saw her and it included telling whoever found her that her owl, Juno, had left with a letter of hers that wasn't meant to be sent and that she was just looking after it. She thought the excuse was pretty convincing. Of course Juno was in England, with her parents, but no one really needed to know that.

What Sirius had gotten off that experience, when they both fell over each other, was that Natalia Yaxley had really nice skin and he really couldn't see any dimples like he saw on other people their age, and he also realized her eyes' hue somehow looked pleasant against her skin tone. The Slytherin learned that Sirius's eyes were fully grey, not an inch of blue in them; she hated blue eyes.

When Sirius Black finally fell asleep that night, he dreamt of blonde hair and the forbidden forest.


	4. chapter 4

_We live in such extraordinary time_

 _Exquisite visions fell off my mind_

 _Do you remember me, taking pictures of you?_

 _As the light came through_

 _You were running away_

 _And you asked me for a place to stay_

 _Saturday. October, 2. 1976_

That morning Natalia woke up as early as she was able to, which was a bit after 10:20, and walked by herself to Rubeus Hagrid's hub. To be quite frank, the old man was surprised to see her there, but she quickly explained that the reason of her presence there was to check on the Kneazler they had found the previous night. Hagrid, being as kind as he was, let her in and offered her tea and some rocky looking fudge, which Natalia was polite enough to eat without further comments; one thing was clear for the witch, the groundkeeper could use a house elf.

She only stayed for an hour during the first day, but when she went back on Sunday she stayed a little longer, and the same thing happened Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Soon, she was the one in charge of feeding the creature; since it was only a few months old it had to be done by bottle, which the Slytherin thought was adorable and was more than glad to provide. Sometimes, she would change the gauze and clean the wound, which was mostly superficial; but the majority of the time she would just spend time with the animal and keep it some company, petting him and brushing its hair. Surprisingly, Hagrid didn't mind the girl at all, since they would only speak about that certain Kneazler or other creatures, subject that seemed to be both' favourite. He even allowed her to name the animal, after she showed dislike for the name he had chosen before.

" _You can't name him Buffy_. That's a good name for dogs, no cats or Kneazles" she had said.

Visiting Hagrid and the kneazler was the kind of distraction she just needed at the given moment, since her stress levels were at their peak, and she wasn't a person who allowed stress into her life easily. She still refused to have Rosier as a tutor, especially after what happened last Friday, and she hadn't spoken about it with Black since she had last mentioned and been rejected, so Hippolytus Lestrange was basically trying to explain everything to her. Lestrange wasn't the best teacher, and Natalia wasn't the best student; Simon was able to see that, reason why he had given his sister a deadline. If she didn't get a suitable tutor or proved that she could manage by herself, he would have to ask Evan. She knew that if she were to mention what that twat had done to her brother, Simon would've done something about it and drop the tutoring thing completely, but that would be far too humiliating.

Sirius Black had been pretty much ignoring her, which was totally fine with her. Well, it was true, she got utterly bored most of the time in class, and she really wanted someone to talk to, so she may've tried to get him into a conversation a few times now and then, but realized soon it was impossible. Sirius was really determined not to associate himself with blood supremacists if he had the chance to avoid it, especially since this particular one seemed to have a bit of personality of her own, thing that seemed to interest him more than it should despite his chagrin; basically, dangerous ground.

It wasn't until Thursday when James was busy planning out Quidditch training, Remus was still recovering from his latest episode and Peter was the only one free to hang out with, something he didn't really felt like doing, that the Black boy decided to find himself something else to do that didn't involve any of his friends. He could've made plans with Marlene or another girl, but girls mostly implied drama, and he certainly didn't want that at the moment. He finally decided to go check on Hagrid and see if he still had that Kneazler of his.

When he knocked on the door, he was received by Hagrid himself with a big smile on his face. The half giant offered tea and some scones, which he rejected twice but was still convinced to take some. After Sirius asked about the animal, Hagrid got really excited, as if he had been waiting for him just to say the words so he could finally show it to him. The white haired baby kneazler was curled up in what appeared to be a little dog's bed and it was looking rather peaceful, much different from when they had found him and was as feral as it could be. Sirius noticed it had a purple collar and was about to ask about it, thinking it was quite funny, but Hagrid's words made him forget about the whole thing.

"Isn't 'e cute? I say it all the time, 'arvey's one of the prettiest of his kind"

Sirius mouth contracted immediately into a joking smile, just as it naturally did every time he heard something worth being mocked of.

"Harvey?" He asked, not even trying to repress the laughter that was coming out from him, not really wanting to offend his giant friend but finding the name way too funny not to react "Why would you name him something as stupid as Harvey" he kept laughing.

Hagrid didn't seem to have taken the comment on a bad way but wasn't laughing either, just smiling casually. Just as he was about to answer, a knock on the door made him smile for he realized who the person behind it was.

"Well, you can ask her" he said while opening the door.

Normally, Natalia always came around the same time during school days, and she also had this playful and childish way to knock on the door that Hagrid was soon able to recognize quite easily since no teacher would ever do it that way.

Sirius joyful face switched in a few seconds into an intrigued one.

"What're you doing here, Yaxley?" He asked suspiciously

"Could ask the same thing about you, Black" her tone was of course, more confronting than his.

"I got here first"

Hagrid smiled, noticing the hostility between the two students, reminding him that they were both pretty much still little kids in many ways and that without interference from his part, they would soon throw on a little kids show.

"Easy there, easy. You're both 'ere for the same business" he said while pouring some tea into a cup he had ready for Natalia. He didn't dispense of a great collection of mugs, due to the lack of visits, but he had this small light blue one he found the witch rather liked "Yeh know, Sirius was askin' 'ow yer came up with Harvs' name?" Hagrid added casually while looking at the Slytherin, trying to find some common ground between the two of them.

Natalia took a few seconds to answer, not taking her eyes off Sirius Black, as if she was waiting to be attacked by him. Finally, she convinced herself he wouldn't.

"It's a good name for a cat" she simply said, taking the warm cup from Hagrid's hands; winter was soon approaching and soon she'd have to get her cashmere gloves to go outside "It's from these books my brother used to read when we were kids. The wizard's cat's name, it was Harvey" she explained further.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Of course he initially had associated the name with said story, but he hadn't known that was exactly the reason why the creature was named like that. The adventures of Tito Sprug were really popular back when he was a child and it was one of the few children books his mother allowed him and his brother to read while growing up. The fact that Yaxley and her brothers had also read something he enjoyed pissed him off terribly, it was already bad enough his own brother enjoyed them as well.

"You do realize it's not a cat?" He snorted, ignoring the whole book thing as he knew it would be yet another thing that could link him and Natalia Yaxley.

This time, she rolled her own eyes.

"I'm not a bloody troll, Black." She took a sip "Harvey looks a lot like a cat, so I figured I could give him a cat's name." She took another.

"It's a bloody stupid name"

Natalia looked at him in annoyance and incredulity.

Hagrid saw a big fight coming up and quickly changed the subject. Merlin knew those two teenagers had a lot of unresolved issues and that none of them were afraid to use magic to resolve them, and since Hagrid wasn't technically allowed to use his, even to spare conflicts, he knew he couldn't let things escalate much further if he wished to keep his house still standing by the end of the day.

"Yeh know… I was thinkin'. I'm pretty busy with everything around… and ern… Since yer two found Harv… Maybe you would like to take care of him? Ye know, come and feed him or take him out to play, he's not dangerous or anythin' to be here because I'm goin' away in… Two days… Ireland… Cousin… Can't stay here alone… Too young…"

Natalia smile was wide and so was Sirius frown, and they both aggravated with every single one of the groundskeeper's word. For Natalia, it was as if all her dreams were coming true at that very moment, and with just one look over her Sirius was able to confirm that she was indeed, crazy, judging by the way she smiled.

"Of course, Hagrid. I can even take him tonight! He can play with Matilda and they'll keep each other's company and then I'll-

"Thank you, Natalia, but I don't think he'll be welcomed inside the castle. Maybe you can visit him here" Hagrid smiled pleased and then he placed his warm chocolate eyes on the boy "What about you, Sirius? She'll need some help"

Just about he was ready to turn the offer down, Natalia snorted; making both men look at her. She would need help? From him? Ha! She wanted to laugh right at their faces. After a " _why are you looking at me like that_?" kind of look she gave them upon their reactions, she followed to explain: "Oh come on, Hagrid. Do you really expect Black out of all people to take care of a living thing?" she sniggered

Hagrid was about to defend him, thinking the boy was an absolute delight despite being mischievous, but Sirius, whose sharp eyes seemed to be drowning in annoyance was quicker.

"I'll love to look after it, Hagrid" He said coolly, letting each word out slowly.

He was looking at her defiantly, daring her to say anything. Instead, Natalia just crossed her arms and put on the kind of face she did when she didn't get what she wanted: frowned forehead, pursed lips and half closed eyes. After all, she wasn't blind to the way Sirius Black's mind worked, if she kept pushing for it, he'd only want it more just for the pleasure of vexing her.

" _Merlin_ " she said under her breath.

It was settled then. Both of them would take care of Harvey for the rest of the week while Hagrid visited a cousin overseas. Since they had classes during the mornings, they agreed the creature could take a nap during that time said (after all, it seemed to be Harvey's favourite activity), and during afternoons one of them would check up on him, give him some cuddles, play and feed him. Sirius knew there was a big possibility of him regretting what he had just promised, he could imagine many more interesting things to do around the castle than looking after a sick cat, but the necessity of not only proving her wrong but also of beating her were greater.

It was all going smoothly, really. Sirius had gone on Monday. Natalia had gone Tuesday. But then, on Wednesday, Jane told Natalia that James mentioned that Sirius was planning on sneaking out to Hogsmeade with Marlene McKinnon; to this newfound information Natalia snorted, not really surprised. It was because of that information that in that very same afternoon she headed straight to Hagrid's place to find poor little Harvey by himself, feeling utterly bored by the looks of it.

" _Twat_ " she had murmured under her breath, knowing she'd have to resign to her study day with Hippolytus to look after Harvey.

It wasn't that Natalia didn't love spending time with the little monster, but she guessed it was kind of illegal to have one, especially around subtends, and she knew that although Lestrange and her were good friends, he was loyal to her brother first and would tell him in no time if he had a clue of what she was doing and Simon would naturally stick his nose into it, so asking Hippolytus to come to Hagrid's place to keep going with their tutoring was out of question for the blonde. The big problem laid on the fact that they had a test the following day, and she really could really use the extra tutoring, but she was more than decided to prove Hagrid that she was more responsible than that Black boy was, so she was going to take the risk and try studying there by herself.

She took a shower, grabbed a box of chocolates her father had sent her a few weeks earlier and her books, and kissed Matilda goodbye before she left. She really didn't bother telling anybody since she wasn't thinking of leaving for that long.

Hagrid's place was quite a fair way from Hogwarts itself and Natalia appreciated the walk. Once she got to clean Harvey's wounds, which were basically gone for the most part, and after she managed to feed him she got to sit down and start reading her book. Everything was a little bit too confusing. You see, Lestrange was very smart but he kind of expected her to know things she didn't and that she was too embarrassed to ask about after he said every single thing with such confidence. Of course the tutoring did help, but not nearly as much as if she had it coming from someone a little bit more… didactical and patient.

She almost jumped out her seat when 25 minutes later she heard the cracking of the wooden door opening, seeing Sirius Black's dark long curls entering the room, a long of complete annoyance as he made his way in. She stared for a while with disapproving eyes, and he only noticed her when he placed his wand on the table.

" _Yaxley_?" he said, worriedly, trying to hide the surprise he felt as he saw her sitting at the rocking chair. By the clothes he was wearing, she could tell he wasn't planning on staying much.

She closed her book with more force than necessary and even forgot to mark up the page she had just been reading. She didn't think she'd see him at all during that day after class was over, but was surprisingly pleased to come across his guilty looking face in Hagrid's hub, because that meant she'd be able to yell at him and tell him how much of a slag he was and how she was right and he wasn't, and no one would even blame her for it.

"Oh, you decided to turn up."

"Come on, I was a little late but I'm here now. You can go"

"Oh right, that's why you're dressed up so nicely, right? Because you're going to stay here all afternoon with Harvey and play with him, right? Not like you're going on a date or anything, that'd be dumb, right?" she had a smile at the beginning of her statement but by the end of it that smile had completely worn off, along with her sarcastic voice which was soon replaced with a really angry one. She had always found amazing how some people were able to maintain their coolness through everything, no matter how much rage they were feeling; her mother was one of those people and so was her brother; she took after her father and was unable to hide her true feelings for longer than two minutes.

Sirius seemed all ready to defend himself, but realized that there was really not much use in doing so. He had been pretty much busted and no matter how dumb Yaxley were, there wasn't any witty way in which he would be able to convince her otherwise. Had it been another girl, he could've surely flirted his way out of it; he was a very charming individual when he wanted to be.

"Well at least I'm here to feed him, okay? I have a life outside of here, unlike you apparently" he gestured with his face.

Wrong choice of words.

" _What did you say_?" she arched an eyebrow.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

" _Whatever_. If you've already fed him, that means I can leave"

Natalia felt the need to yell at him arise with an urge she hadn't quite felt before, tell him he was an insufferable git and that she despised his guts and maybe some worse things, but she contained herself. Their relationship status had sort of a civil denotation on it after their detention; sure, they still hated each other but they had made some progress, she guessed mainly because he felt bad for what had happened and pitied her; which of course wasn't great, but at least was something. For once she decided to use her head instead of her emotions as a first response to something, although there was nothing she could do about her pink frowning face.

So she waited for him to leave, but he wouldn't. After two minutes, she really couldn't help it but to open her mouth. Merlin was she trying to be patient but the world just wouldn't let her.

"So? Why're you not leaving? Isn't McKinnon waiting for you to snog her face off somewhere?" 

Sirius let out a sigh, still fighting with the door, clearly struggling. He really wasn't listening to anything she was saying, her words just sounding like unnecessary background noise that could soon lead to an undesired headache.

" _Shut up_ "

Natalia snorted and stood up, not willing to let the matter go.

"Oh, so you're telling _me_ to shut up? You must have some nerve, Black. You promised to be here and you broke your promise and now you're going to break the door, _move away_ "

She pushed Sirius with her hips and tried to open the door herself, ready to be alone again without the boy near for her to hex, but the door had different plans. She forced and pulled and even tried with magic but nothing seemed to be working.

"What've you done?" she turned to look at the boy, her eyes completely furious "Did you charm it? Answer, Black!"

"No, you bloody troll. Can't you see someone else did? It probably was Hagrid before he left"

"Hagrid can't do magic, you dorcus" she answered, still pulling the handle, not ready to give up.

Sirius was sitting on the same chair she had been occupying before, both legs hanging from the armchair and his back facing the other end of it. There was a dark look on his grey eyes, as he began to realize something rather unpleasant.

"Then he asked someone else to do it"

Natalia hit the door with her foot a couple times and put on a pout, no tears coming off her eyes just yet but she knew that if they didn't get an answer to whatever problem was happening to that door soon, there would be lots. That day was so not going like it was supposed to and once again, despite trying to do the nice thing, she was losing.

"This is so unfair! What do you think this is?"

"I think I know exactly what this is."

"So? What is it?" she looked exasperatedly, her patience running low.

He let out a sigh and got himself more comfortable on the chair.

"My father uses the same charm in the house when we leave. It's designed to allow only a certain amount of people inside the house while the owner's gone on Holidays or whatever… If more than the stipulated people get in, It'll lock itself up until the owner comes _or-_

"But Hagrid knew we were coming here!"

He sighed, annoyed upon the interruption.

"Yeah, but he also knew we were coming on different days and that we'd likely never be here together. So thank you, Yaxley, we're trapped in here because of your nosy arse"

"My fault?" she repeated a couple times, her face priceless "If I didn't need you to get out of here I'd hex the bloody hell out of _your_ arse so bloody badly"

Sirius had his brows up, really entertained by the whole thing. He tried to suppress a small chuckle that threatened to get out of his lips. There was only one thing funnier than making a Slytherin pissed and it was getting one who rarely cursed into a rant, since it showed one that whatever you were doing to piss them off, was working.

"Are you laughing?" she questioned, not really believing what she was seeing, making his laughter grow even stronger "Do you take this as a joke?"

She took her wand out, but not even that made him stop, if anything it helped to increase his laughing. Of course, all of this behavior by the Gryffindor boy only made the anger of the Slytherin girl increase, which of course, made his laughter levels go ballistic.

"Oi sorry" he said, still laughing "It's just… that you try to look threatening and… oh" and he started laughing again.

Maybe his friends and many other people in Hogwarts found her threatening, but Sirius had grown up with Bellatrix Lestrange as a cousin, a woman who used to hex toddlers for fun at Family dinners. Besides, Natalia was too short and pink to even raise fear on him or anyone who actually looked at her, really. He agreed, however, that the most dangerous thing in the girl who was standing in front of him was her mouth when in front of muggleborns. For everything else, Natalia Yaxley was completely harmless.

"That's it. You're opening this door and I'm taking Harvey with me and then I'm telling Hagrid what an immature, unbearable git you are Sirius Black" she said, arms crossed, each one of her words filled with rage.

Sirius laughed a bit more and finally decided to stand up, walking close enough so he could be just in front of the blonde's face. That was his way of appearing intimidating. He knew Slytherins liked to think they ruled the whole world, he lived in a house full of them, so sometimes situations called for a little of intimidation on his side in order for the snakes to stop being so… demanding. Now, he knew that Natalia Yaxley was not only a Slytherin, but also, a spoilt brat, which implied a double trouble so he needed to be extra careful with his words and let her know who was in charge there; if not, may Merlin have mercy on him.

"The thing is, _Natalia Yaxley_. I can't do that, you know why? Because the spell that opens it only works during the early morning, with _the first ray of sun"_ he sang "and do you know what time it is?" she opened her mouth but he was quick to answer first, a rather bitter taste on his words "That's right. Not morning"

"So you're saying we're stuck in here for like, until tomorrow?" 

"About like 14 hours if I'm correct" he said, pretending to check his pocket clock carelessly. He really didn't have a pocket clock with him right there; it was resting at his night table, outside, where he should be.

Natalia looked defeated. She sat down slowly over one of the chairs behind her; her blue eyes drifting to a land far away for she knew she had lost much more than just fourteen hours.

"Don't look that sad" Sirius said, while grabbing a small ball that rested on Harvey's bed "I'm the one who missed an important date. Now Marlene's going to think I stood her up again and she won't talk to me for Merlin knows how long" he said bitterly, throwing the ball against the wall over and over. Why did women have to be so complicated?

Natalia looked at him with disbelief. How could he be complaining about such a childish thing when she was right there, next to him, having real problems? If she hadn't been so sad she'd have hexed him.

"Oh, yeah? Well I'm going to fail my bloody test tomorrow as I was supposed to have a study session with Hippolytus tonight and after I was supposed to- 

And she was never able to finish up that sentence because just as she spoke, Sirius yarn had managed to actually crash against Hagrid's plant pot, which rested on the shelf over Natalia's head. It is important to know that the plant was watered on abundance each day, magically, and that said watering had only taken place about an hour ago, making everything very fresh and very muddy. Long story short, Natalia's golden, shiny, just washed hair was now covered in mud and so were her mouth, face and clothes; not to mention, her skull was slightly sore, so of course the words she said next came out with a bit of a struggle. It all happened quite fast, really.

"I. Will. Murder. You"

The girl stood up, dropping mud everywhere with every movement and threw herself over the boy, who tried in vain to keep her arms away from his face, fearing scratching would be performed. They struggled a lot and dropped a few things around the place; a plate fell from the table, a magazine from the other shelf and an apple from the bench. Natalia actually got to hit him once on the face with her right forearm and get a little bit of mud stuck on him too. After that happened, Sirius got confused and fell on his butt, which made Natalia fall as well since she was being held by him. The collision didn't stop her from trying to scratch his face, so he grabbed her forearms this time. She stopped after a little while, both of them out of breath. Their faces extremely close one from the other.

Natalia had a perfect view of his oh so grey with not a hint of blue eyes and she notice there was not mockery in them as there usually was. Sirius could see her blue eyes surrounded by the mud, the rage that had been so present in them before dying little by little. He also noticed how she had small freckles on her nose, slightly darker than the rest of her skin, but then again, it could've been dirt. She stood up and waved some more solid pieces of dirt off her robes and after that, he followed her example. Both looked at each other again for a few seconds in absolute silence, none of them really sure of what to say.

"Take off your sweater" she demanded on a sharp voice.

To say Sirius was taken aback by the comment would be a big understatement.

" _What_?"

Natalia gave a big sigh of annoyance, rolling her eyes on the process.

"Take. Off. Your. Sweater, Black"

Both, Sirius's eyes and smile went wider than ever before, the whole shock from their fight gone faster than it came. He really didn't know what to make out of that, so a joke seemed like the safest answer for him.

"Wow, Yaxley. Was that like a turn on for you? Have you been like in love with-

" _Oh please_ " she interrupted, clearly not on the mood for games "I need to take a shower and put on some clean robes. Thanks to you, I cannot go and get some of my own and since this is your entire fault you must give it to me"

Her answer seemed to be good enough to keep the boy without talking back. Sirius Black took the clothe piece off slowly, not really sure about his decision of giving it to her. It wasn't cold at all inside of Hagrid's hub, thanks to the permanent fire that was lit on the corner, and he would reluctantly admit that it had technically been his fault… but a snake like Natalia Yaxley wearing his clothes was not an idea he fancied. Merlin knew he didn't even like giving his clothes to the girls he used to fool around with, in fears they'd get the wrong idea or something like it, and now a Slytherin would be wearing it. He surely deserved a price of some sort for behaving as nicely as he was doing.

She extended her hand without saying a thing and after he gave the article to her she turned around quickly heading to the bathroom. Not even a 'thank you' escaping from her lips. Sirius denied with his head and let himself fall over the rocking chair, not at all surprised.

…..

Natalia Yaxley could admit she wasn't the brightest witch her age, she wasn't oblivious to the existence of people who were smarter than her, but she wasn't dumb - despite the many people who disliked her had stated in the past (and present). She truly believed she wasn't, really, but she found that she had probably been mistaken once she realized putting all her dirty clothes inside a sink full of water so the dirt would come off wasn't the brightest thing to do, for now she had nothing dry to wear but Sirius' sweater, which she left over the toilet. She thanked Morgana for the fact that she hadn't thought of washing her panties as well, since those hadn't touch the dirt at all. Standing there with no trousers, no skirt and only her undies, Natalia Yaxley left herself fall down to the ground and sat with her knees glued to her chest, thinking of how stupid she was. The sweater barely made it to cover her bum; naturally, she made the choice not to go out. Why on earth had she never bothered learning any cleaning or drying spells? She blamed the elves, for they were far more talented and experienced in that area.

She had been locked inside the small room for already twenty minutes, keeping her mind preoccupied with the fact that she was possibly going to also fail Transfiguration and praying Merlin that if he were to send her a pair of trousers or a skirt, as soon as she got out she'd buy 'Madame Ogglyve's Manual for the Optimal housewitch' and make the attempt to read it. So far nothing had happened. Her plan was basically to wait until Sirius was asleep and then she'd try get out, find her book, and keep studying in the kitchen. It was indeed a gloomy place to be at, that bathroom, she thought when she heard a knock on the door.

"Yaxley? Still alive?"

"Yes!" she said quickly while putting her hand and whole weight on the door, not willing to let him in. If only had she taken her wand inside, she could've casted a spell to keep him out, but once again, she hadn't been her smartest self.

"Can you come out then? I kind of have to go too"

"No, sorry" she said quickly, trying to sound nice enough so he'll drop it without much insisting "Can't"

"Come on! I really need to. You've been there for like forty minutes"

"I can't come out, Black!"

"Why?"

She was now fully standing against the door, and so was him.

"Because I can't"

"Well, you either come out or I get you out, because I have to go in"

Natalia sighed. Yeah, what she was doing was pretty lame and a little bit childlike, but the possibility of showing Sirius Black her bum because she had no clothes left other than his own didn't appeal to her much more than the idea of spending a few nights in Azkaban did to the regular wizard. But alas, knowing she'd soon get hungry and have to get out anyway, she decided there was really no point in putting it off until later when he probably decided to get in, making it about ten times more embarrassing – because let's face it, despite his slim frame, Sirius Black had way more muscle than she did and getting her out of there wouldn't take it more than a minute. Closing her eyes, fearing she may regret what she was about to say, she told him she'd get out under two conditions

"What?" he asked confused.

"I'll get out but you have to promise two things"

Sirius sighed. He really needed to go and Natalia Yaxley had to hurry.

"Alright, what'd you want?" 

"Okay… one: you can't look"

"Look what?"

"Doesn't matter, _you won't see it_!" Sirius rolled his eyes "And two, you can't laugh"

Sirius foot was hitting the floor one time after another, really needing to go to the toilet. He'd had liked to keep asking what the story behind those strange rules was, but he had been holding it ever since he left the castle over an hour ago. So he gave in.

"Okay! Come out now please"

She was really slow at opening the door and Sirius could not help but get extremely annoyed and had to stop himself from actually pulling the door open quicker, in fears such an action would send her back inside, leaving him with no chances but to go on the plant pots. Once she was out, she was quick to walk pass him, but still, that didn't mean he didn't notice something was off.

"Are you not wearing trousers?"

"I told you not to look!"

And Sirius's frown turned into a wide crooked smile which Natalia didn't have the chance to get off his face since he was already closing the door and getting into the bathroom when she turned around to do anything. She'd have loved to punch him right in the face.

When she went into the kitchen, dining room and house's biggest area Natalia was surprised to notice everything had been cleaned up and back to the way it had been before they fought. She also noticed the fact that a few ingredients like flour and cheese and some small tomatoes that seemed like they had seen better days laid on the table. Harvey was also there, resting like a baby over his tiny bed and already asleep, very exhausted from the previous show he had just watched live – and which he had really enjoyed, if one must add.

Sirius came back moments later and surprisingly, didn't laugh or mention the lack of trousers issues, something really polite and unlike himself that Natalia didn't fail to notice although chose not to make a comment on, in fear his view on things would change.

"I figured that since we're staying here all night and stuff we'd have to eat something" he explained while looking at the food "And since you don't seem like the cook type I'll be the one making something instead"

Natalia crossed her arms defensively, raising one eyebrow at him and crooking her neck.

"And you know more about cooking than I do?"

"Yes. And don't cross your arms, the sweater lifts up" he winked.

The girl's cheeks went bright pink while she pulled the fabric down, trying to hide as much as she could.

"I'll help" she said quickly, trying to get the embarrassment away from her "to cook"

Sirius shrugged and proceeded to get close to the table as she followed. He got his sleeves up and ordered the girl to do the same.

"I don't want that sweater to get stained. It's one of my best ones" he explained, to which the girl obeyed without further comment, trying to hide her annoyance.

She rolled her eyes, but agreed. It was after all, it was chimaera's fur. She was able to tell because of how soft it felt against her skin, owning a fair amount of items of the same material herself and she'd be cursed before damaging such a rare and precious thing as a chimaera's sweater.

When she pulled up her sleeves slowly, Sirius flinched because of something he saw: fading purple marks on the shape of fingers were printed on her skin. He knew it couldn't have been him since even when trying to get her away from him, he had still been careful enough not to use too much strength so he wouldn't hurt her and their episode had only been recent, not enough time had passed for those bruises to form. The only answer he could think of was of Rosier, since it was on what he recalled the same arm and place.

"So what're we making exactly?" her blue eyes wondered, unaware of what was on his mind.

He quickly put the thought away and focused on her question.

"It's called pizza. It's a muggle invention" he explained, smiling a bit too much once he realized how much the witch would recent to eat something made by a non-magical creature.

She did, in fact, seem disgusted and slightly uncomfortable by the fact. Sirius lived for moments like those; if he had had a camera, he'd very likely photographed her face.

"Why are we making this then? Are we muggles or something?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at the depictive way she said the world. Some purebloods could be so predictable at times, it was almost funny.

"No, but it's bloody delicious and it's the only food that we can make since we don't have ingredients for anything else"

Natalia stopped complaining and the both of them started cooking. Sirius would give a few instructions here and there and he'd tell her off a few times when she'd mess up and she'd argue she was doing it right, but overall, everything went on smoothly. He was indeed surprised the witch was even helping him do anything that had to do with a pizza; most purebloods he knew, would have been appalled by the idea of consuming or taking part of something that wasn't magical, and would have refused to eat without second thought, but it seemed like Natalia Yaxley was proving him wrong. She'd like to say in her defense, later on, that she only did it because she was terribly hungry and knew herself and how she couldn't study with any empty stomach, so it was basically an educational matter. Besides, for all she knew, muggles were stupid and chances were it was actually a wizarding invention, stolen by the group of non-magicals.

The blonde girl threw a bunch of flour on the table quite harshly, making Sirius's black shirt covered in it, by consequence, he immediately imitated her, this time, aiming to her face. She proceeded to throw some more white dust over him as well, and soon enough both were fighting again, only this time both of them had smiles they were trying to suppress. He ran a little bit, trying to get away from her reach but she still got some flour over his head, making him walk over her, decided to get hers even worse, making her try to escape.

They were having genuine fun.

As Natalia circled the table with caution, she couldn't help but let out a loud chest sound-like chuckle, covering her face with both hands, adding more flour to it while doing so and giving Sirius the time he needed to walk next to her and get her face completely white with flour, smiling as she complained.

Since they were both standing so close from each other, for the first time willingly since ever, and there was no more flour near them to be thrown, both stared at the other not really knowing what to do nor what to say. They hadn't had a moment like that one ever since the days when they were kids and didn't know such thing as muggleborns were something one could disagree on. Sirius wondered if there were some kind of book that told one what to do when having fun with someone who all your principles despised? Did it mean they didn't hate each other anymore or was it just a hiatus they should soon forget about? He didn't know of any enemies who would laugh together and chase the other out of genuine fun; he couldn't' see Dumbledore doing that with Grindelwald.

Whilst the Slytherin stood quiet, not even moving, Sirius cleared up his throat as he grabbed his wand and began cleaning the whole mess they had made, pulling apart from her. He was grateful she didn't comment about it after, or tried to help.

Cleaning was done and so Natalia rubbed her face with a wet cloth that she later on passed to Sirius who did the same thing with much less care than the witch had. In the meantime, the blonde decided to go and sit down and try once again to study, so she would keep her mind occupied and also, perhaps aim to an Acceptable if she was lucky enough with the questions.

"So when it's this er… 'pizza' going to be ready?" she asked.

"Mmm 'bout 20 minutes or so. Then we can add the sauce and cheese and put it back into the oven."

She nodded and opened her book, all her hair getting over her face, but she made no effort on putting it away.

Sirius observed her while she read and noticed how several minutes had passed and she still wasn't turning the page. He then couldn't help but think about those bruises on her skin and the fact that she told him that she'd have to take lessons from the very same person who gave her those if she failed. He also realized it was kind of his own fault that she was unable to go and study with her other friends, all because he should've honored his promise instead of making plans with Marlene, causing unwanted things for both of them.

He sighed, knowing he'd probably regret what he was about to say. Sometimes he was too much Gryffindor-like and it sucked.

"Let me help you with that"

It turned out that Sirius Black was quite a good teacher. His words were not slow enough to indicate he considered her to be a troll but they weren't as fast for her not to be able to follow. He repeated things if she didn't get it on the first go, and he seemed to recognize when she didn't understand but told him otherwise.

He left her doing some wand movements while he prepared the rest of their meal and somehow managed to get back before she hurt herself trying to pull off a really complicated stunt required for an iguana transformation.

"Alright, drop the book for a second so we can eat. I think is ready"

He cut it in 8 big slices and Natalia observed horrified how he barely managed to get a giant slice inside his mouth, cheese all over him dripping from it. He was doing all of that with his bare hands, like an animal. If she weren't feeling rather grateful with the boy because of the whole tutoring thing, she would've voiced her opinion about that a little bit more expressively than she did.

"Are we not using knife and fork?"

Sirius managed to swallow a big piece that Natalia assumed he hadn't even chewed properly before he answered.

"This is how you eat pizza" he said "Come on, give it a try"

Natalia looked down at the thing and grabbed it with the tip of her fingers, not really on the mood of getting her hands greasy. It looked funny and smelled weird, not to mention the texture; besides, goat cheese wasn't even her favourite. Her first bite was small and mistrustful but after that one, she realized how much she liked that thing; It wasn't like anything she had had before, and she just wanted more and more of it.

"I'm in love with this pizza thing" she said between bites

Sirius chuckled.

"Well, join the club"

The girl made a groan out of pure pleasure.

"How do you even know about this thing? I've never heard of anything like it. They don't even have it at the great hall"

"That's because it's a really American thing and the school kind of hates Americans" he explained "I ate it for the first time with James"

"I didn't know the Potter's were so close with muggle and American customs" she said, trying not to let her emotions slip about either of those groups, knowing that It may make Sirius get annoyed and she wasn't on the mood to start another fight since they'd had enough for the day and were currently enjoying a treaty of peace.

"They aren't. James and me, we went into London around two summers ago looking for this store that was supposed to sell the latest Nimbus they didn't have at Diagon Alley yet. We got lost and we were really hungry and we ended up at this muggle pizza place. It looked really gross so we guessed it should be cheap and yeah, maybe it would taste bad but we were willing to try it" he remembered with a smile "And it was awesome. Both James and me fell in love with it"

"I can see why. I want to eat this everyday" she said as struggling with a long piece of cheese which was hanging from the slice and her mouth

"Yeah, well after we finished with the first pizza we ordered another one and then when we were supposed to pay we realized we didn't have any muggle money on us"

Blue eyes were following the conversation barely blinking as she kept on chewing. She loved hearing stories, especially funny ones, or romantic ones, and the one the black haired boy was telling certainly sounded interesting.

"And what'd you do?"

"We tried to get money by making out with the woman who worked there. Who knows what these muggle chicks's costumes are like"

Natalia was now cracking up with laughter, one that she hadn't even tried to suppress, feeling comfortable enough to let it all out, and so curious about the ending of the story that she didn't even care.

"And what did she say when you offered?"

"She slapped me and called the owner and so we ran"

"You could've turned into a Massey!" she frowned, a big smile on her face indicating she was only joking, giggles still coming out of her .

Sirius tried to suppress his laughter, but it just was the first time in a long time he had heard such expression and couldn't hold it any longer. He knew Yaxley probably thought it to be true, but for him it was nothing more than a funny childhood memory. He doubted any of his friends knew what it meant, even James, but a " _Massey_ " was what resulted from a muggle and a wizard or witch kissing; it came up for the first time on a children's book pureblood parents used to read to their kids, a really old thing, really, which was supposed to set the idea that muggles were this awful thing to be avoided. The Masseys were hilarious; very hairy creatures with drooling problems whose magic went crazy and did all sorts of things, Sirius thought them to be the funniest thing ever at age five.

Both wizards were laughing again, just like they had been when having their flour fight. This time when the laughter stopped and it went all uncomfortable, they at least had the pizza to stuff their mouths up with.

They resumed to studying after Natalia finished her fourth slice. Sirus looked at her in disbelief; he had never known a girl who ate as much as she did and stayed relatively thin, but he guessed that was the power of pizza over people – not even stuck up snakes were safe from it.

Almost an hour of studying had gone by, and Natalia remembered bringing a box of chocolates so she stood up to go and get it, her sweet tooth aching for some glucose, since she always had a little chocolately treat before going to bed. Sirius watched her bare legs go all the way from the conformable chair to where the box laid on the floor. The boy realized maybe bending down to get something wasn't a good idea if she wasn't wearing trousers but he decided not to mention it, because with a Slytherin, you really never knew, she could get annoyed; besides, he couldn't deny that the view he got wasn't enjoyable. Of course he cringed after thinking that, but oh well, Peter was right.

"Stuff your face up, they're French" she told him while throwing the box to Sirius, who easily grabbed it with just one hand.

The chocolates were indeed French and they came in a really fancy package, a small blue note stuck to it that read in a nice handwriting " _For Tally_ "

"Who's Tally?"

Natalia rolled her eyes.

"Well me, you dummie" she explained while sitting down and taking one chocolate "That's what my papa calls me. Don't' you remember?"

Sirius suppressed the necessity he got to make fun of it. Of course that apart from James, the only other teenager in the castle who would proudly wear her silly childhood nickname without shame would be Natalia Yaxley. He did remember her father calling her like that when they were children, but he guessed she should've dropped it already by then. He decided, however, that making fun of that would break that weird comfortable state they were both in, so he let it drop and decided to save up the jokes for later, when they were as usual, arguing.

"What're the flavours?" he asked despite having the box on his hands "I still suck at French"

She rolled her eyes and yanked the box away from him.

"You have lime white chocolate, Venezuelan dark chocolate, plain coffee, blackcurrant, almond, Madagascan vanilla and cherry. Well, you don't have cherry anymore because I ate all of them, but feel free to choose from any of the others" she said while lazily popping one on her mouth "I recommend lime white"

And he did as she told him to. His reaction to the chocolate was similar to hers when it came to pizza. A smile was beginning to form on his lips, just from the sweet flavour itself.

"Told you it was good" she said, noticing his liking and slightly proud of herself for making it clear she had been right about something at last "Now let's keep studying"

Natalia flinched, not really believing she had just said those awful, boring words. Her mother better gave her a bloody price from what she had pushed her daughter to become.

Sleeping time came sooner than later and the teenagers were debating were they should sleep since both of them believed themselves deserving of the bed and that the other one could manage just fine sleeping on two chairs put together, using Hagrid's socks as a pillow for one night.

"But we're in here because of you"

"I'm helping you study"

"I'm a girl"

"I had Quidditch training and my back hurts"

It was finally Natalia the one who made the first move and took a few semi dirty pillows that rested on the floor, possibly owned by some of Hagrid's old pets, and put them in the middle of the bed, creating something similar to a barrier. She looked at it with her hands over her hips, crooking the neck to inspection her creation, hoping it'd work. With a sigh, she guessed that it should do.

"That's your side, that's mine. Do not cross it or remove the pillows" she warned, while getting into the bathroom, ready to wash her face and her teeth.

He snorted; thrilled she'd think he'd want to remove the pillows.

When she came out, she found Sirius already lying on the side she had claimed as his, on his back. He was covered with blankets up to his shoulders and Natalia was able to notice he wasn't wearing anything under it. Instantly, she got a little bit nervous by that fact and played with her hair to brush the thought off while she slowly lied on her own side.

They were really silent at first. They had never slept in the same together, or even thought about it being a possibility. Except for her brothers, Natalia had never slept on the same room as a boy before, let alone a bed. Sirius had never slept with a girl without having sex first, and even when that did occur, it merely was because he had fallen asleep accidently. It was without saying, extremely out of both teen's comfort zones and a new experience all together; whether they liked it or not, they couldn't tell.

"So you speak French" he claimed, trying to make conversation. Had anyone else said that, it'd have come up awkwardly, but Sirius Black being Sirius Black couldn't help but make it sound cool.

Natalia hummed an affirmative answer.

"And Romanian" she added in what he could tell was a snobby voice; well, snobbier than usual.

"Yeah, I remember" he groaned.

They were quiet again. Both of their eyelids were becoming too heavy to keep open as well from all the fighting, arguing and studying they had done before, not to mention they both had had class and Sirius had been playing Quidditch to entertain himself before his date was supposed to take place.

Just before she fell asleep for good, a quiet 'thank you' came out of her mouth, possibly her subcontinent speaking. Sirius, who almost asleep smiled but didn't answer back, too tired for that.


	5. chapter 5

_**Hi dears!**_

 _ **How are you all doing? Thank you so much for the reviews and the favourites and follows, it really means a lot to me. I hope you see the correlation between the lyrics I'm attaching to the chapter and the chapter itself. By the way, have you noticed I fixed up pretty much all of my chapters? I was really not happy about the first ones so I gave them so touches, feel free to read them if you want to. I hope you like this one as much as I do, because I love James and I think he was a sweetheart and deserved better (Lily was too, but I kind of wondered 'what would happen if...' and you know) Anywho, please review or comment, it makes me really happy when you do that. If anyone it's good with photoshop, would you be interested on doing a cover for this story? I'd give you the pictures and everything, I just need someone to put it together (I'm so greedy jeez). Please remember J.K Rowling owns the Harry Potter series and all the known characters while I'm merely playing around with her universe and characters while adding my OCs into it.**_

 _As I write this letter_  
 _Send my love to you_  
 _Remember that I'll always_  
 _Be in love with you_

 _Treasure these few words till we're together_  
 _Keep all my love forever_  
 _P.S. I love you_

 _Wednesday. October 13. 1976._

If there was a feeling that had dominated Jane Abbott's life ever since she was young, it was guilt. She felt it all the time, everywhere, and she wasn't exactly sure it was her fault; there was nothing she could do about it. She really couldn't escape it, it followed her home during Holidays and it was also at Hogwarts for the rest of the year; even if she went to a friend's house during breaks, she would feel it too. She remembered feeling it the minute the sorting hat called Slytherin as soon as it had touched her head, it had been something automatic, as if it couldn't wait any other second to change her life: she saw his brother's eyes fill with disappointment and confusion and her sister's reassuring smile disappear, a frown taking place instead; they were both sitting over at the lion's table and were so sure their youngest sister would sit there with them as well after the big feast, just where their parents sat when they were younger and their grandparents did as well.

The Abbotts were an all Gryffindor family. Ever since the beginning of the school, Jane's ancestors had been wearing red and gold when cheering for Quidditch and they all slept on the lion's tower. It was the same for her mother's family, the Fairfax: the whole line was proud Scottish Gryffindor. There were a few Hufflepuffs here and there; the most recent one had been one of his father's cousins; two of her mother's great-great-great aunts who were twins and her great great-great-great grandfather, Giffard Abbott, who had been headmaster on his own right . There were also two Ravenclaws, one who shared the castle with Rowena Ravenclaw herself and the other one had been her mother's maternal grandmother.

There had never been a Slytherin before Jane. The whole family considered the snake's house to be filled with dark wizards and witches who were snobby and old fashioned, filled with prejudice and evilness towards muggles and muggleborns, and altogether people they wished to avoid during their remaining days if they could help it.

That's why she also felt so guilty when she received her parent's letter, congratulating her for ending up in Salazar Slytherin's house. When she got home for Christmas, Mr. Abbott recited a list of all the great wizards that came out of the snakes' house, Merlin himself being one of them; he also asked her how her Quidditch team was doing that year and showed interest on the fact that she slept in the dungeons, right next to the lake. She could tell her father was trying to reassure her there was nothing wrong with her being in Slytherin, however, the rest of her family didn't seem to think the same.

Every time her father would defend her house when one of Jane's aunts or uncles would make a degrading comment regarding Slytherin, Jane felt guilt. When her sister got uncomfortable talking about her little sister with her friends, Jane felt guilt. When her brother won a match and she wasn't allowed to cheer up for him, Jane felt guilt. When her brother didn't win a match and she was supposed to cheer up for her house, Jane felt guilt.

It wasn't only the Gryffindor-Slytherin problem what made Jane felt guilty. It had been, at the beginning, back in her first and second year, but she soon enough found herself thinking more like her housemates and less like her parents.

The Abbotts were wary about muggles, being too attached to the idea of keeping the whole wizarding world a secret to find any interest in the non-magical species and their culture. However, they accepted and stuck up for muggleborns and half-bloods, despite no taking part in any of those categories; they thought that everyone who had the ability to perform magic on an honored way was worth something and no one should tell them otherwise.

Jane had thought exactly as her parents and the rest of her family before, no seeing harm in muggles, if anything finding them exceptionally funny and rare. She even knew a family of muggles who lived across her aunt Violet's apartment in London, they had two kids around her age and despite not being allowed to play with them since her parents were too fearful of their young daughter exposing their secret, she found it really amusing to observe them from the window while they played with all kinds of odd artifacts.

Her way of thinking kept the exact same way during her first years at Hogwarts, flinching every time her friends would comment about muggles and muggleborns, even half-bloods every once and then. She thought that it wasn't really her friends' fault for thinking like that; just like her, they were raised to believe what their parents believed, even if confused, so she only hoped one day they would see things like she saw them, the right way. It was when she started spending more and more time with her best friend when her way of seeing things started to change. After the summer in third year that she spent at the Yaxley manor, Jane Abbott was absolutely convinced that muggleborns shouldn't be allowed to study with them at Hogwarts, since they were such a threat to the wizarding community. After her fourth year she voiced out that muggleborns shouldn't be allowed to study anywhere; if anything, their magic should be suppressed and them and their muggle families should never hear a word about it. By her fifth, she wasn't even sure muggleborns should keep reproducing.

Jane wouldn't even dream about telling her parents about her newfound beliefs and position rewarding the soon approaching war, she knew it would break their hearts and that as much as they tried, they wouldn't understand her reasoning behind it. It would also hurt them deeply that after all those years of breaking friendships and contradicting relatives because of them voicing out their opinion about Jane being a Slytherin, their daughter still turned out to be everything people said she would.

She felt like a stranger to her own sister, despite having been best friends since birth, and she knew it was her fault. Emily had been in her fourth year when Jane was sorted into Slytherin and she had been sweet about it at the beginning, trying to be supportive for her little sister on an unknown situation like that. She was the first in her family who noticed the change on Jane; their brother had left Hogwarts before the youngest witch began her third year and their parents could see no wrong in their youngest daughter, so for them, she was still the same witch they had seen grow up. Emily saw that Jane was drifting apart from their values and tried hard to get her back into their way of doing things, but Jane tried harder not to. When Emily graduated back when Jane began her fourth, there was no coming back for her.

At last, she was also in love with James Potter, who if anything, considered her as a longtime family friend. She didn't feel guilty about James on the least, and that was one of the things that made him so amazing. He was the kind of boy his parents would love her to be married off to and he was also the kind of wizard all her friends and own values accepted. Too bad he was obsessed with someone else whose mere existence threatened their most valuable possession, their magic.

On Thursday, the day before the Transfigurations test, Jane had been waiting for Natalia along with Hippolytus Lestrange for the last quarter of the hour in the library before he left, tired of waiting. She decided to stay and stuck around for her friend for a little longer, her foot tapping the floor over and over again; she hated being by herself at places where there was a lot of people she wasn't exactly familiar with.

As she was about to stand up and leave, ready to give Natalia a good scold about how it was rude to waste her time like that, she saw James Potter approaching her table, a calm smile on his face. His hair, which always seemed to hold a perpetual messy air to it that made one want to stick your hands on it to fix it up a little it - or so Jane though, looked rather calm that afternoon.

"Hi, Jane" he said with a small smile on his lips and stood in front of her table "Studying hard?"

Jane managed to smile back, playing with her quill while doing so.

"Haven't started yet, actually. I was supposed to meet up to study with Natalia and Hippolytus but she didn't show up and he left" 

James nodded, understanding

"In that case, mind if I join you?" he smiled charmingly and Jane's mouth opened as if she were a fish, soon silently cursing herself because of it "Sirius stood me up as well and Remus's on a prefect meeting kind of thing, he has patrol" he explained, just as he was grabbing the chair in front of hers.

"What about your other friend? The little one"

"Peter? He's on detention" he chuckled "His turn to take the blame"

Jane nodded, a confused frown adorning her face, for male friendships were tough to understand, but still very interesting to hear about.

"So, can I sit?"

"Of course!" she said quickly, moving away some of the papers she had laid around minutes before, feeling stupid for not replying earlier and making him repeat himself "We're transfigurations partners, right?"

He chuckled again and sat down, opening his own book on the same chapter as hers and readjusting his glasses.

After that, they barely spoke anymore. Jane would throw a glance to him a few too many times until he caught her once and smiled at her, making her milky cheeks go bright red, and there's where she decided her round of sneaky looks ended.

About an hour later, she was close to falling asleep, her mind too filled up with information and she hadn't been able to get much sleep from the previous night, since she stayed up reading a romantic novel Natalia had gotten bored of and had given to her. She'd have, in fact, fallen asleep if James hadn't closed his book with strength just in the right minute, making her jump slightly on her seat- thanks Merlin for that, for she tended to be an ugly sleeper, or so she thought.

" _I'm dying for some pumpkin_ "

Jane barely looked at him still embarrassed that he caught her being such a slag, but nodded at the new information. It was then when her stomach betrayed her and made the loudest and ugliest sound. She then remembered how it had been several hours ever since the last time she'd eaten anything and frowned.

James chuckled.

"Do you wanna join me to the great hall? We've studied plenty"

Jane nodded unsure, a bit nervous about having to spend time with James outside a classroom, not because of being seen with him or anything, but because they'd have to talk about something other than school work and it worried her she'd say something dumb or weird; or even worse, they'd be in complete silence and it would be really awkward and he wouldn't want to talk to her anymore.

"We should do this more often" James let out, as they walked out the library, his voice soft.

"Do what?"

"Study and that kind of stuff. Studying with Sirius always gets at least one of us kicked out of the library" he explained with a light chuckle "and Remus prefers to study by himself 'cause he says Sirius and I are annoying, and Peter, well, Peter's Peter."

Jane nodded repeatedly, afraid he'd regret even offering, not even listening to his reasoning behind it. James Potter said he wanted to study with her; that was the only thing she was able to think of, and knew it would be the only thing she'd have around her head for the next week or year.

"I know what you mean. Nat talks a lot when I'm trying to study and gets upset when I don't answer"

"What about the other girls in your house?"

Jane took a few seconds to choose her answer, not really wanting to give the boy the impression she was some kind of antisocial weirdo, although she guessed she kind of was.

"Well, they're alright. We study together sometimes but er… I feel like they don't really like me"

James raised his brows

"What? How can someone not like you? You're like the most easygoing girl in all Hogwarts"

The short haired witch looked at him carefully, trying to decide if he was lying or not and she was relieved to notice that his hazel eyes held no other intentions to his words. Not that she should doubt him, because James Potter only said things when he meant them, and that was well known knowledge around the castle. She smiled softly at that since it wasn't often that people other than her family or Natalia paid her compliments; she especially didn't get them from cute boys with messy hair and starry eyes.

"Thanks, James."

She was about to ask him something about Quidditch, which she knew he enjoyed, being the new captain and everything, but then she saw his gaze drift away towards a redheaded witch. Jane frowned and her smile disappeared immediately. She was indeed an easygoing person, as James had stated, never really having problems with anyone. Yes, perhaps her housemates didn't like her that much but that was purely because of her last name, something she didn't have control over, and also because Natalia and she were so close they thought the other girls felt jealous of their friendship. With all that and that, Lily Evans managed to get unexplored feelings from Jane.

She didn't feel comfortable with muggleborns in general but she'd never think of ever acting physically against any of them and generally their actions didn't upset her, if anything, they went rather unnoticed. Now, Lily was a whole new story. Every time the Gryffindor prefect would rise up her hand to answer a question in class; Jane would flinch and roll her eyes and probably talk about her with Natalia. If she saw the redhead on the hallways, she'd give her a sneaky look and would make sure the fellow witch noticed it was meant for her. Of course she'd admit that it had to do with James and his little obsession of his, but Lily herself was annoying.

"Evans, _huh_?" she said, a smile on her face. It really did hurt her to smile when watching such a scene, the boy she loved all soft and starry eyed for the witch she hated, but she couldn't give her façade away, and had to instead, be supportive of James' likings if she wanted to be something else than a mere acquaintance to him.

The Gryffindor looked at her in the eyes, as if he was trying to communicate with her without using his own words. Like, he couldn't really explain his feelings because of how intense these were; that was how much it hurt for her.

"Have you ever really liked someone even if you know they don't even look at you? But you try to tell yourself otherwise, so pain won't kill you"

Jane didn't answer straight away, feeling tricked by the question. If the boy in front of her had any idea he had just described exactly how she felt about him… It was pretty ironic, really.

"No, not really. Sorry"

"Well, it's painful, let me tell you. I just don't know what to do! Frank's girlfriend told me she likes flowers so I went to Hogsmaede and got her a huge bouquet and I found it on the bin the next day! Then, Marlene told Sirius that she liked this muggle band whose name was the same as a bug, so I got a third year to teach me some of their songs, and when I serenated them to her she hexed me!"

"James that sounds rude" she said, outraged at the thought someone could treat a person as kind as James that way.

"I know it does, but it seems like I'm the only person who brings that side of her. You know Lily; she's lovely to everyone else"

The blonde chose not to reply and not to even look at the boy, afraid her eyes would give away the way she felt towards Lily Evans. She wasn't stupid, she knew the minute James found out the way she felt about her he'd rather avoid her for the rest of their days, and she was not willing to let that happen because of the redheaded.

"I don't know what to do, Jane…" he sighed "And the only female person to whom I can ask for advice is my mum"

Jane giggled

"I can totally picture Euphenia giving great advice"

James smiled.

"I know, right?"

They were of course, teasing each other. James loved his mother dearly, but Euphenia Potter was really old, closer to her eighties than she was to her seventies now, having had James very late in life, and her advice on how to get 'birds' as she called them was often out of fashion and a bit inappropriate for modern days.

"I can give you some advice" Jane suddenly added, not really thinking over her words or the effect they may produce, just wanting to make things better for the boy standing in front of her and to feel closer to him, any kind of way it was possible for her "If you want to, of course"

"Really?" he sounded happy, oh thanks Merlin he sounded happy – she thought, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep if she had made it all weird, beating herself for it later that night "Oh, Jane, that'd be bloody great! I swear. I wanted to ask you since you're my only friend who's a girl but didn't know if it'd be weird"

"No, why would it be weird?" she assured him with what she thought seemed like a pretty genuine smile

"Oh, I don't know. I'm really weird around girls, as you may have noticed" he laughed nervously

No, she had not noticed that before. The Slytherin frowned and began to think of all James's interactions with other girls and she was unable to find any; besides from her own sister, herself and Lily, she never saw the Gryffindor boy with any other girl either in the castle or at home. The thought made her smile. Despite being such a handsome boy he kept humble about it, just like the guy from the book she was reading.

"So, what's your advice?" James asked "I really want to win her over"

"What about giving her some time? She may come around. Like, just try to ignore her, as if you don't care about her. That'll drive her crazy and will come back running at you"

Once, she had overheard her sister and her friends talking about boys during a sleepover, and several of them agreed that ignoring someone you liked in order to make them like you was the worst possible idea and often ended in that person falling for someone else; Jane was wishful that would be the case with James and Lily.

The boy frowned.

"I don't know, Jane… it seems like that would only make her like me even less"

"Well, that's what my sister says always works"

"Mmm, you may be right, actually. I've never tried that before"

And they smiled at each other before opening the doors to the great hall. James simply said ' _I'll see you around, Jane. Thank you a lot!_ " and Jane only smiled while heading back to her house table.

She was eager to tell her best friend about what had just happened but couldn't see the blonde anywhere. She was really worried at first, but soon both she and Natalia's brother agreed that the blonde was probably " _eating chocolates in a bathtub while she stresses about no studying_ "

Jane had to settle for conversation with Simon Yaxley then and some of the others Quidditch team members, and of course all they talked about was the sport itself—a big match was coming up soon, apparently. However, not even talking about Quidditch, which bored Jane greatly, could get her mood down after what had just happened. She didn't even feel bad for lying.

When dinner was finished, Jane managed to get a plate of quish for Natalia, knowing she was probably starving, but once again was surprised when she didn't find her in the common room, their chamber or the bathrooms. She even looked for her outside, at the owlery, but there was no trace of the Yaxley girl.

By the time she knocked on the boy's room looking for Simon, one of his friends told her that he was already asleep, having early practice the next morning since there had been a change of plans they had done with their head of house. Jane considered going to a professor but she knew that if alright, it would get Natalia in a lot of trouble, and that's the least the girl needed with a mother like hers. She knew that Natalia had gone to the groundkeeper's house to look after that little beast of hers, but she couldn't picture Natalia giving up the comfort of her own bed and pillow for anything in the world.

Around eleven pm Jane's eyelids were closing against her will. She was sitting in the common room, Natalia's cat on her lap, begging her for a brush every now and then since the little thing was way too spoiled. She made the decision to go and ask for help as soon as possible if Natalia wasn't at the great hall for breakfast, and without wanting to, she fell asleep there only to be woken up by Rue Rowle the next morning.


	6. chapter 6

_**Hello dears!**_

 _ **How's everyone doing? Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's kind of a filler thing more than anything but yeah, it was needed. I love writing about Natalia's relationship with her brother, they just care so much about each other and try to hide it. I've got two older brothers too and we get along just great tho I don't get to see the eldest much because he's in uni in bloody England and can't see my other brother much because he got married and left home lol but yeah; enjoy your siblings if you have any. Anywho, here you go.**_

 _"I feel like I'm just missing something whenever you leave_

 _You've got all the ingredients except you needing me"_

 _Thursday. October, 14. 1976_

When Natalia woke up the next morning, two of her worst fears for the night were confirmed to have happened. She was drooling, as usual, thing she cleaned quickly off her chin, and she had her arms and one of her legs wrapped around something, which she feared to be Sirius, cheeks already burning up. Opening her eyes carefully and slowly moving her limbs away from what she thought was the boy's frame, she realized that luckily for both of them, she was actually just hugging one of Hagrid's dirty pillows and as much as she was disgusted by it she preferred that rather than the other option. Soon enough she noticed that Sirius was absent from the bed.

Checking the clock on the wall she knew it was close to 7:30 am, so he probably was in the kitchen and he was waiting for her to wake up, the spell probably long gone. She took her time to get up and ready, wanting to think a bit about what had happened the previous night and also trying not to look as bad as she sure knew she looked like, as every other morning; curly hair and lots of pillows didn't get along well, anyone could tell you that and the fact that she hadn't been able to use her 'Madame Rosette's' hair potion didn't help one bit.

She still couldn't believe Black and she had gotten along fairly well for most of the evening. He'd behave like what she expected boys around her to behave and he had been kind enough not to make fun of her when the clothes thingy happened or when she didn't understand something he was trying to explain to her. She actually thought maybe Sirius Black and her could be civil towards each other, like they had been many years ago.

A thought was made and it made her smile. _Lumos_!

 _She could be Sirius Black's savior!_ She thought as she got out of bed. He had helped her with the whole Transfiguration matter, so she figured she could help him to become a better wizard, to be a little bit more like what he should be. He had all the potential, all those years of teaching him how to act, how to speak and how to relate with others from his parents had actually stuck with the boy, he was just too confused and misguided to actually show it around school or in social acts with a lot of people. Natalia fully believed she could get Sirius Black on the right path again, and that would make not only his parents adore her and feel proud of her, but more importantly, her own too.

She quickly drank some of Hagrid's leftover teeth potion to clean hers, washed and face, and managed to try her hair to look almost presentable by running her fingers through it, too excited to even bother about her lack of such simple things as her own teeth potion or hairbrush.

She called out for Sirius, all excited, but no answer came from the kitchen.

It was after she inspected the whole house that she realized that there was nobody else inside but a very clingy Harvey and herself. It seemed as if Sirius had left early in the morning and had no even bothered to tell her. She tried not to, but really couldn't help to feel betrayed and stupid for thinking that Sirius Black could actually be worth her time. Had she honestly thought they could be friends? Even worse, she had thought of helping him. Merlin she could be naïve sometimes.

When she went back into the bathroom and checked on the bathtub for her clothes she found them still brown and very, very soaked. She had never done the washing by herself before so she just assumed that by putting them on water everything would just come off by itself. The results, however, were very different from what she expected. If only Strinky, her house elf could see her… the poor creature would've taken her eyes out before acknowledging those clothes. Natalia frowned and put on a crying face as she could not believe all of that was happening to her in just one morning.

Not only was she locked up for more than 15 hours with the most annoying person in the planet to also be abandoned by that same person after she changed a bit of her mind about him to now also have all her clothes dirty and wet, and simply useless. She couldn't wear that skirt to the castle, but she could also not show up just wearing Black's sweater and nothing else under. All of that happened without mentioning she had a test in less than two hours and she really wanted to have some breakfast, her stomach already complaining as the traces of pizza were long gone.

Being practical and grabbing a knife, she made a big hole on one of the pillow cases and she was putting it on without taking off her grumpy frown, until she heard the door being called. Natalia let out a sigh, kicking off the pillowcase and walking to the door slowly, feeling stupid for thinking such an option was even going to work. She opened the door with a relieved smile on her face, which she really tried to suppress since she was supposed to be mad at him for even leaving her, but was unable to.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm happy you didn't leave me here by myself. I don't have trousers, you see"

It was when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck that she looked up and realized that the person standing in front of her was Jane, her best friend and definitely not who she thought she was talking to. The taller witch's presence took the other witch a little aback, but still, managed to smile after her initial confusion. After all the problems she had faced during the last 24 hours, a pair of welcoming arms and a kind smile from one of her favourite people in the world seemed like the perfect medicine.

"I was soooo worried about you!" Jane cried, still standing outside the house "I looked everywhere last night but couldn't find you and I almost told a teacher but I knew you'd be mad If I got you in trouble and then this morning, for breakfast, James told me that Sirius told him you were here and—

Natalia raised a brow, separating herself slightly from the taller blonde.

"What else did Sirius tell him?"

Jane let out a sigh, not thinking that part of the story was really that important compared to all the other things she had told her.

"I don't know, Natalia! I came here the second James told me, I didn't' even stay and chat and you know how much I like James" she reprimanded.

She was about to take a step into the house when Natalia suddenly pushed her away quite harshly, making the taller blonde gasp, brown eyes wide open and a surprised frown. She had barely managed not to fall by holding tightly to one side of the door frame, her knuckles going wither than they were before. That had been a quick reaction... and to think people called her dense.

"What was that for?" she complained.

"Oh, Jane, don't get mad. If you get a foot inside here the house will lock itself up for I don't know how much more time. That's what happened last night, some sort of security mechanism"

"What happened last night?"

"The bloody house locked itself up with Sirius Black and me inside it and didn't open until this morning" Natalia explained, exasperated as she looked around, trying to see if she was forgetting anything.

A pair of brown eyes grew as wide as they could. For Jane, what her friend was telling her was just as exciting as that story she was reading from her book, if not far more so.

"So did you and Sirius Black spend the night here? Like, together? Just the two of you?"

Natalia rolled her eyes.

"Well, do you see anyone else in here?"

"No, but I also don't see Black"

Natalia frowned, annoyance adorning her entire face.

"That's because he left, that rat. He left me sleeping and didn't care to wake me up. I could've missed my test!" she complained "Anyway, you have to help me. As you can see and I stated, I don't have any trousers"

Jane suddenly looked down, realizing what her friend meant

"Why—

"I'll explain later. I need you to go to the castle and bring me my robes, then, we can have breakfast."

Sirius Black thought he was being really discreet and as silent as a mouse when he entered his chambers up in the Gryffindor tower, he was, after all, an expert on sneaking in and out of places. Bad thing was that his best friend was also an expert on that sort of stuff too, so as soon as he opened his truck he felt James Potter standing right behind him, making him cringe the second he realized.

"Care to explain why you were with Natalia Yaxley until just twenty minutes ago?" his accusatory voice demanded.

The dark haired boy let out a sigh, knowing the incident from the previous night could not be kept a secret for long to his friends, even if he wanted to. As he could not see the other boy's face, he really was unable to tell if the other boy was simply disgusted by the information or was amused by the whole situation and simply mocking him about it, and knowing James, he was inclined to root for the second option.

"It's a long story mate, but I can assure you I wasn't pleased about it" he said while turning to face his face "do Remus and Peter know? About me staying with Yaxley?"

James seemed confused, but denied with his head on a slow motion.

"They woke up twenty minutes ago and left. I told them you were asleep"

"Good. Please, don't tell them just yet. I don't want to have more people than necessary associating me with _her_ "

James nodded, but still seemed confused.

"Did you two… er… you know" he snickered awkwardly, making weird faces while talking, something he did when he got too nervous at times; sex being a subject that made him incredibly so "do it?"

Sirius's disgusted frown took all over his face, his expression resembling one of a person who just ate a troll bogey flavoured Bertie Bott's bean. James was slightly relieved to see that.

"Do you seriously think that low of me?"

"Well, then care to explain. Last night I looked for you on the map and saw you with her and I was like " _oh, well, that can be a coincidence_ " then I looked an hour later after you didn't turn up for dinner and I saw you with her again and then before going to bed you were still with her" James ranted, a tiny smile on his lips, clearly finding the whole situation pretty funny "Seriously, If I didn't know Yaxley's kind of dense I'd have been worried about you"

"She's not dense" Sirius muttered under his breath while picking up clothes from his truck to take a shower. Not that he was defending her; he just wanted to make it clear that she was kind of an evil genius when she wanted to.

His best friend barely heard what he said and asked him for the whole story, which reluctantly, Sirius told. He left aside some bits and pieces of the incident, like the fact that the witch was wearing his sweater and nothing else, or the fact that they both had to share the bed and that he kind of tutored her because he felt bad she wouldn't pass Transfigurations. He felt somehow ashamed of all those things, as if they were things he wasn't supposed to have experienced. Even not telling people about them made the whole thing worse because it meant that Yaxley and him shared a secret together.

At the great hall, James almost crashed into a tall blonde girl, who Sirius soon recognized as the Abbott girl who seemed to always tag along with the witch he had just abandoned. Not wanting to be near any person who reminded him of Yaxley, he took off immediately, expecting James to do the same after he expressed his apology like the polite wizard James Potter was, but he soon found out that he stayed and chatted with the girl for a longer time he'd had wanted to be in the same room as a Slytherin.

With a groan he sat next to Remus and Peter, who asked about how his date with Marlene McKinnon went, who just happened to be sitting a few meters from them. Sirius's surprised expression was noticeable and when he looked up and suddenly found the blonde Gryffindor looking directly at him he knew he was in trouble. He tried to open his mouth and say something to her, but Marlene and Alice Bingley shared a look full of hatred and looked at him one more time before walking out of the great hall, both with insulted frowns on their faces, despite the fact he actually hadn't done anything to the last.

Sirius frowned, after all the trouble he went to, he may have forgotten that he didn't make it to his date and that the girl could be happen to be, _possibly_ , maybe, utterly pissed about it.

James joined them at the table soon after the whole incident took place and it gave Sirius an excuse to ignore the question his friends had previously made; he instead began talking about how he had this great idea of a prank to pull on some Slytherins later that week, Severus Snape being their main target.

He didn't see Natalia Yaxley until Transfigurations class took place. She was already in their seat and her curls were off loose, he was surprised to see she was wearing the uniform, somehow thinking she would still be wearing his sweater. Speaking of his sweater, he should ask for it, at some point, for It was very nice quality and one of the few things his parents had bought and he actually liked.

He tried to delay sitting down next to her for as long as he was able to, chatting with Remus and bringing up mundane subjects for conversation, but when Professor McGonagall made an entrance to the class he had no other choice but to go to his assigned seat. He expected the blonde to start ranting up about him leaving her alone and not waiting for her, or at least start talking about how nervous she was about the test—as she had done many times the previous night, but instead she said nothing to him. She didn't even bother to look up in his direction, keeping her blue eyes stuck to the professor, pretending he didn't exist.

Even during the test, Sirius couldn't help but to sneak some looks towards the Slytherin sitting next to him, trying to figure out if there was something odd on her, making sure she wasn't a bomb about to explode, but he had to stop after Professor McGonagall caught him looking once.

After the class was over, he would have liked to say some words to her, to advise her not to tell anyone about the previous night's events, and he would have said those things if she hadn't, really unlike herself, grabbed all her things in a matter of seconds and left the classroom not even taking time to wait for her best friend.

"Have you noticed anything weird on Yaxley?" he asked Peter at Divination; class he shared only with the chubby boy out of all his friends. James lacked the talent of making stories up without bursting into laughing and getting himself in trouble, and Remus was far too responsible to be wasting precious time that could be invested in DADA or Ancient runs, some of his favourites.

The question took the boy by surprise. He looked everywhere around to catch look of the Slytherin girl in case she was there, but he found nothing but other three Gryffindors, one Ravenclaw and many Hufflepuffs. Not a single Slytherin took Divination and it was such a small class that they had to combine the other three houses together. When Peter confirmed said girl wasn't in the room with them and there was no risk of her overhearing anything related with her coming out of his mouth, he answered:

"Umh, what do you mean by ' _weird'_?"

"Today. Has she been acting weird today? Like, have you seen her talking to someone other than her friend? Abbott, I mean"

Peter seemed confused, but still offered an answer

"I don't really pay that much attention to her, Padfoot" he shrugged "and I don't have many classes with her, just Transfigurations and Potions"

Sirius nodded, really regretting asking Peter anything. One more time, the shortest wizard was pretty much of no help and he knew how Peter was like, he'd like to know why he was inquiring after the Slytherin and that meant he would be a pain in the arse for the rest of week, possibly.

"Why do you wanna know about her, Padfoot? You fancy her?" he chuckled but was met with Sirius dark look which made all his teasing fade away.

"That's none of you buissness"

Simon had suggested they write the letter to their parents that night, so Natalia knew something odd was going on. Normally, the two of them would write to their parents on a Sunday. It was one of the few occasions for which they spent time together in the castle at will with no other people around, and even if they wouldn't like to admit it to anyone, not even themselves, they enjoyed it. Simon came up with the excuse that implied him having an important test on Monday and that he and a group of his friends were going to study on Sunday afternoon, making it impossible for them to write the letters that day.

As usual, Natalia was filling her brother with all kind of gossip and non-important information which the boy would probably forget in less than a second after their meeting was over. Although doing all the normal things they did when performing that task each Sunday, it didn't escape Natalia's mind the fact that he was being awfully quiet. She had wanted to think that that seriousness coming off her twin was product of someone else's actions, and not hers, if that were the case, she'd be in trouble- and she didn't need any more of those.

"Why was Jane looking after you at 10:30 at night?" her brother asked suddenly, interrupting her story about a promiscuous fourth year Ravenclaw.

Natalia's eyes went wide and spilled some ink over her parchment, which she hoped the boy didn't notice. Jane had told her that she hadn't told anyone but James Potter about her disappearance on Thursday night. She knew how much her brother hated Sirius Black and how he'd be likely to confront him for getting both of them into such a mess, embarrassing her on the process; telling the true was off the table, so she decided to lie.

" _Lastnight_?" she tittered, a hand running through her hair "Jane was just being silly! I dared her to go and tell you that I was missing and she had so much fun looking at your tired face! We kind of forgot to tell you it was a joke this morning"

Her brother's expression didn't change on the least, if anything, it became gloomier. Natalia swallowed upon seeing that, had she not been convincing enough?

"Jane didn't get to see my face, or ask me anything, Natalia. She asked Tristan and he told her I was asleep. She never mentioned you were missing or much at all, whatsover"

Knowing all she could was wait for him to keep going, she stayed silent, not wanting to keep screwing up all the situation with her words. She was cursing herself at the moment, had she really given herself away that easily? She thought herself to be a better liar than that. Nothing could've prepared her for what she heard next.

"Whoever you're seeing, Natalia, you have to end it"

"But I-

"Let me finish, please. I'm not saying this just for the sake of making you feel miserable. Whoever you're seeing, it's not worth it. If mother finds out you're sneaking out that late… to meet a boy…" her cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable "Umh.."

"I'm not seeing anyone!" she pitched 

Simon's face didn't change. He seemed dead serious.

" _Tally_ , mother and father are looking for a suitor for you, someone who's worth enough for you. Do you think the parents of these wizards will be happy to set up their son with a witch who sneaks around on school nights with someone else? If people find out about it they'll target you as something you're not"

"Can I explain? I wasn't -

"Mother's already angry at everything you do. How do you think she'll get if she finds out about this? Stop throwing the cat among the pixies, Natalia"

His voice held a lot of worry in it, but Natalia couldn't care less about it. Her eyes were teary, something Simon assumed was because she refused to end whatever relationship she was in, but in reality, she was furious about how messed up everything had gotten. She lied to cover something up and now everything had gotten far worse and blown up on her face.

She stood up, not wanting him to see her cry, incriminating herself with that action without even knowing.

"Are you not finishing your letter, Natalia?" he inquired from behind as she was already a few steps away from the door.

She didn't answer, instead went to her room so she could cry herself to sleep in the tranquility of her own bed. Once again, she was told off about something she didn't have control over.

Simon sighed and picked up both his and her sister's letter. He tried for the frown to leave his face, but he found it to be impossible to do so. He decided to let his sister be for the night and talk to her again in the morning once she decided to quit being an unreasonable brat. He didn't regret anything he had said; he was just looking after her.

On Tuesday, she got her test back. Professor McGonagall had even smiled at her. She could tell that the Gryffindor boy sitting next to her was trying to get a glance of her mark, by the way he kept crooking his neck slightly, but she wasn't about to let him know a thing after how he had treated her last Monday when he not so kindly told her not to tell anything about Thursday—which she wasn't planning on doing, especially after he left her there by herself. She had even contemplated destroying his sweater out of anger, but being the slave of fashion she was she couldn't bring herself to destroy such a beautiful thing.

She picked up her stuff quickly that day and grabbed Jane's hand as she walked out, making the fellow blonde rush as well. They practically ran through Hogwarts' corridors while giggling all the way down to their common room. When they got there, Natalia's eyes scanned everywhere but couldn't find the one person she was looking for, so she abandoned her friend and knocked on the boys' room without really waiting for an answer, just a mere formality since she knew most of boys had had class with her just then.

Lying on his bed, there was Simon Yaxley, probably taking a nap judging by the peaceful look on his face. Too bad. Natalia's smile grew bigger and bigger as she jumped on the bed, shaking his brother awake while managing to crush some body parts.

"Wake up, dung brains! Wake up"

His blue eyes took a few seconds to do as they were told, but Simon finally managed to sit up and face his sister, not the kindest look on his face. To be honest, that face would've scared most people in the castle, but not his sister who kept smiling regardless, not only because she knew her brother seemed scarier than he was but because she was far too happy to be concerned about anything else.

"What on earth are you doing?" he said grumpily.

He only managed to get a sleep about thirty minutes ago, making use of his free period. He had been having late night meetings and long afternoon Quidditch practices and many long study sessions. He didn't appreciate his sister or anyone else, for that matter, interrupting rare times of peacefulness and solicitude like that one.

Natalia's bright smile only grew stronger, if possible.

"Guess who got an 86 on Transfigurations?" she asked and then answered her own question quickly while giggling and jumping up and down, not giving him time to do so: "Me!"

Simon was surprised at first, his sister never being one for that subject but soon enough let out a smiled when he realized that she was probably telling the truth, his grumpiness partially gone.

"That's great news." He said with a yawn.

She quickly pulled the test out of her bag quite roughly and handed it to her twin so he could check it out and confirm with his own eyes what she had found so hard to believe the moment she got the test. She waited eager for his confirmation on her doing greatly. He leaned on his elbow against the bed and got himself more comfortable to start reading the paper.

It was quite a contrast from Thursday night, when Simon had reduced his sister to tears, but that argument was all long forgotten. On Sunday Simon had bought a honey cauldron cake and placed it over Natalia's magazine; she tried not to but ended up eating it about half an hour later and soon enough they were on speaking terms again. Simon's mind was still unchanged but he didn't mean to make her sister feel bad or guilty about the whole problem, he was just looking after her best interests.

As the boy was just handling the test back to its owner with a pleased smile on his face, Evan Rosier made his way into the room, carrying his bag over his shoulder and taking off his shoes with the help of his other foot, making the least possible effort to do so.

"Well, hello to you, Nati." He smiled at her, walking over to the siblings.

The sole presence of him made Natalia miserable. The boy had apologized far too many times after the incident the two had that Friday weeks ago when Natalia got detention but she still refused to spend more than a class on the company of the wizard. The spawn had been worried she'd tell on him to her brother or someone else, but she'd first be caught dead than having people knowing she was somehow of a victim to someone as disgusting as him. She had been able to tolerate him before the incident but he humiliated her like no one had before and for that, she loathed him and as surprising as it was, it seemed his fascination with her had only increased. For Natalia, if asked, she would prefer to marry a squib before the boy in question.

Being even able to smell him, that putrid perfume he'd use, she got off the bed and offered her brother a quick smile before disappearing with the promise to inform both their parents, completely ignoring the other guy in the room.

 _My dearest Tally—_ it read,

 _It is my greatest pleasure to know once again, my judgment was not mistaken. Every single thought that goes through your head is worth bottling, my darling. Your mother is just as pleased as I am with your performance and wish you to keep doing that way, which, I'm sure will be the case for as I tell everyone, we have a little Morgana as a daughter._

 _How pleased I was to receive not only one but two letters from you on the same week. I'm afraid I won't be able to write as much for the next few days as I'd like to, with your brother's engagement party preparations which your mother is taking care of and the ministry, I'm quite busy, but be sure I'll make it up to you and your brother when you two get home for Yule._

 _Eponine is eager to finally meet both of you; your brother has been telling her many things and stories about you and she's excited about finally having a sister, for she is an only child. She also wishes to make plans for you two during the Christmas holidays for the ball so you can go dress shopping together. I know where you like to get yours from but maybe you two could wonder off a little bit? I agreed for you since I know that you'd love to help._

 _Your brother informs me that he tried sending a few present from his latest trip to Milan but that he was afraid the owls could break it, so he will give them to you during the Christmas holidays as well. He also wants to apologize for his latest letter being so short, but as you know he's a really busy man now soon to be engaged along so many other things. My, my! My children are growing._

 _I hope everything else is going marvelous for you and your brother in Hogwarts. For Jane as well, send her my greetings. Tell Horace, as an answer to his question, yes, I still keep the badge and would be happy to show it to him, shall he decide to pay me a visit._

 _Now, I have to go. Continue being as wonderful as you are, darling._

 _Love, papa"_

Natalia smiled at her father's letter which had arrived on Thursday, thanks to her family's owl's efficiency. She knew that if she wanted to be cheered up, she should write to her papa. He didn't write long letters but he always made them sound lovely and flattering to everyone he liked, but her especially, for she was his favourite.

The mention of Sebastian's fiancée made her frown without even wanting it, simply because she didn't know the girl in question since she had attended Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts, having graduated a year ago, not to mention all her relatives were French so they tended to miss social events that took place in Great Britain. Their engagement plans only just a very recent thing which they had talked over the summer. The party was to be held during the Christmas Holidays, just after the Yule ball so both her and Simon could be there without missing school, and it seemed to be all her parents could talk about in their letters besides her marks, which annoyed her greatly, but she hadn't mentioned it to anyone but Jane.

It felt nice to feel like she was doing things right for once when it came to Transfigurations, so of course it bothered her that she couldn't ask Sirius Black for his help again, knowing she would be rejected the minute she dared open her mouth. She couldn't help but notice how relieved her brother seemed since the news of her passing the subject were giving to him, and she was already able to feel the guilt and shame that the possibility of failing the next test would bring to her life.

After reading her letter, she pulled out her latest edition of Twitch weekly magazine and with a smile on her face, put the worrying thoughts out of her head. She had done well on her exam, she was a respectful young witch, a good person and she deserved to have her own leisure time and do things that made her happy, like reading her magazine. She was happily filling up the newest quiz when the results appeared on it and she felt like ripping the page off and hexing to oblivion. Apparently, despite being ' _a good hearted witch most of the time'_ , Rita Skeeter—the new young quiz maker, thought that Natalia held selfishness deep in her heart and should work on that.

The young Yaxley girl had never once been told she was selfish. She had always boasted of giving charming presents to family members and friends and she also shared her sweets, most of the time, if she wasn't terribly hungry. She didn't think of herself to hold and ounce of selfishness in her heart. Rita Skeeter was a really stupid witch and Natalia wanted to write a letter to Twitch Weekly to complain about her and demand her fired in hat instant.

And then, still fiercely mad about that quiz, when she was searching for her chocoballs, she remembered of the person who gave them to her just a few days ago. Simon left them over her trunk as a congratulations present for her mark on Transfigurations and then when she had gone over to thank him he had brushed it off, trying to look cool in front of his friends.

She thought of all the things his brother was supposed to do without their mother pressuring him to keep an eye on her marks. He had so much going on, and he always seemed so tired. Most of the times she couldn't understand how he managed to run a whole Quidditch team by himself, leading whatever kind of organization he was told he should work on, managing to study for the rest of his subjects and having somehow of a life; she could barely manage with school without napping every once in a while.

Quickly, Natalia grabbed her magazine, chocolates and letter and entered the common room, looking desperately for her best friend; possibly the only person who would be able to let her know if she was indeed correct about her suppositions. She found the Abbott girl playing chest with Tristan Nott; losing, when the blonde witch took her by the arm and carried her out of their common room without caring to explain what was going on, a thing Jane was already quite used to, so she did not comment on it or try to stop her.

Natalia pulled Jane by the elbow the whole way to somewhere near the Quidditch grounds, not saying a word during their whole walk there with the only sound of a few complaints from the taller witch here and there. Once there, Natalia pulled the magazine out of her robes and handed it to the fellow witch for her to read, her eyes never leaving her face, expectantly trying to see what her friends reaction would be with her arms over her hips.

"What is it?"

"Read it. Personality number two, that's what I got"

Jane gave her best friend a confused look but nevertheless, did as she was told. When she finished, she found Natalia's blue eyes piercing through her own, demanding for an answer, although Jane was unsure there was any to be given, and if there was, she wasn't sure which one would suit her friend's liking.

"So?"

"So what…?"

"Did you read it? Do you think I'm selfish?"

The palest girl opened her mouth and closed it a few times, unsure of what to say so the other girl would remain unhurt. Not that she thought it to be Natalia's main quality, for she had other great ones, but she'd admit her best friend could be sometimes but without any malice.

"See? I didn't think so either at the beginning. I really don't appear as a selfish person, but the thing is, Jane, I am!" she said in utter surprise "I've been thinking and even if it's surprising, I believe I can be selfish without wanting it at times"

She said those last words really heartbroken, while sitting down on a bench slowly. Jane thought she was being a little bit too overly dramatic, but that was Natalia, and being a drama queen was part of her personality, so she sat down too, running her hand the other witch's arm on a soothing manner.

"Oh, I'm sure you're not that bad Nat, there are worse person than you around"

"Oh, but I am" she answered gloomily "I believe I'm putting Simon and my own parents in a terrible position, Sebastian as well. Even yourself, I put you on a terrible position earlier this year and I didn't notice. I'm sorry"

"What do you mean?"

Her blue eyes were filled with realization.

"When I asked you to be my tutor, even if you struggled with Transfigurations yourself" she explained "I also put Simon on an awful position; he responds for me to my parents, and I've been a burden lately. And my poor parents… They love me so much and somehow they always end up disappointed" her eyes were filling up with tears "That's why I've decided—

"What… what did you decide?" Jane asked with fear. Merlin only knew the sort of crazy ideas that tended to pop up in the witch's head when she was feeling gloomy.

"I decided that I'll ask Evan Rosier to be my tutor. I'll always have my wand around and I'll still loath him as much, but I can't just go back to failing. I'll ask him tomorrow, during Transfigurations"

Jane was surprised to say the least. It was the first time she heard Natalia say things as such, a selfless statement. She understood that nothing would really change Natalia's mind, for once she was set on something she wouldn't let go, so she just smiled softly and gave her a hand squeeze.

Natalia forced a smile and squeezed back.

To be completely honest, Jane didn't think study sessions with Evan would be too bad. Sure, he was a little bit gross and a pervert and yes, he had a slight obsession with her best friend, but she was a respectable witch from a good family. Wizards just didn't harm witches like Natalia Yaxley, or at least, they shouldn't

It was early during their Transfigurations lesson on Friday, and she made it on point to get there even earlier in order to catch Evan Rosier and get to have a much feared talk with him. The reason being was that she wanted the least amount of people to see her talking to such an individual, but she didn't want to encounter him alone either, so a class would be fine. He entered the room a few seconds after she and Jane did, and came in laughing along with Dolores Nott and Constance Allingway.

The minute he saw her walking towards his desk, the boy completely focused on her and stopped talking about whatever he was discussing, a bigger smile appearing on his face, unable to believe that was really happening; after what had happened last time, he had guessed he'll have to try much harder for the blonde to give him the good eye. The two girls who accompanied him rolled their eyes playfully and watched closely the interaction between the fellow Slytherins, not minding it a single bit that the attention wasn't focused on them anymore since they already knew of Evan's antics and what they thought was a sick taste on witches.

"Do you want to talk to me, Nati?" he asked even before she even stopped walking.

Natalia swallowed, looking really uncomfortable, not even bothering to try and hide the disgust she felt for him from her demeanor. He didn't even mind it.

"Yes, as a matter of the fact I was here to ask you to… er-

"Go ahead"

"Well, I wanted to ask you if you could—

And she was never able to finish up her sentence because the feeling of fingers grabbing her by the shoulder left her with no other option but to turn to face whoever it was touching her immediately. It was really a surprise to find Sirius Black's face merely a few centimeters away from her own.

Her eyes widened at the thought of him touching her, especially in front of people and without previous announcement. Not to count accidents which ended in one of them falling and times when they were younger than eleven, they had barely touched voluntarily before. All of that went without mentioning what scared Natalia the most at the moment, which happened to be the fact that his touch felt awfully nice; even for a boy. She was utterly speechless.

"Hey, Yaxley" he said coolly, not even giving glancing over the other people around.

Evan looked down and saw how Sirius's hand was still resting comfortably over the witch's shoulder and quickly his smile disappeared, a frown taking place instead. He himself was fairly good looking, but knew Sirius Black was what people considered handsome, and not only that, he held a reputation with witches; had he attempt to try anything with Natalia, that could hurt his future plans with her.

"What do you want, Black" he shouted, that welcoming tone he had been using with Natalia before disappearing just as quickly as his smile.

Sirius kept on ignoring him completely and turned his face back towards Natalia. Just after he did that, he noticed maybe they were too close, but he rubbed the thought off and went ahead with what he was supposed to be saying, before he came to regret even doing anything.

"Don't forget that I'm tutoring you tonight"

A big frown took place over the blonde's face.

"What-

"You already forgot? Expected" he smiled charmingly, the kind of smiles he used to flirt with girls but never with her, and got a bit closer "Please don't be late this time"

He left immediately after that, not giving her time to answer and not willing to hear any kind of comment from the other Slytherins; she could deal with them since they were her friends, he had done his part and that had been more than enough.

Both Jane's and James' mouths were in awe too, observing from a close distance. It occurred to them that none of his best friends had told them anything about these supposed tutoring session but they did recall hearing multiple times how obnoxious they found one another, so naturally, they reaction was more than understandable.

It even took Natalia a few minutes to realize that all of what had just happened, despite confusing, meant she wouldn't have to spend any unwanted time with the Slytherin boy and so an enormous smile appeared on her face. She'd take Sirius Black anytime over Evan Rosier, and she wasn't even ashamed of saying it.

"You know what, Rosier? Never mind"

She turned around before he got to say anything else, feeling the whispers from Alligway and Nott rise up as she walked away. Ha, and people said she was the biggest gossip at Hogwarts. Then, she smiled once again; she had been about to do a really selfless thing and was then being repaid; life was fair to her, life loved her.

When she sat down and saw the boy next to her, she hoped that what he had just said was true, if not, all of her happiness would be a lie and not only would she be supposed to go and get the tutoring from the Slytherin, but also swallow her pride after she had acted so happy in front of him when she realized she wouldn't be needing him anymore. Facing the dark haired boy, her face darkly serious, she asked: "Did you mean it? What you just say?"

Sirius let out a heavy sigh, looking at her as well. He knew he should say yes.

"I heard you and your friend talking last night, and as much as I hate this—and believe me, I really do, I can't let anyone spend time with Rosier, no matter the circumstance"

Natalia seemed offended, only half listening to his explanation.

"Well I don't like you either! And how come you were listening last night? Are you like stalking me or something?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, laying a little bit lower on his chair while getting himself comfortable.

"No, in case you're unaware, we have practice on Thursdays. We saw you two sitting there and someone had to make sure you weren't spying on us"

"So, you spied us"

He rolled his eyes.

"The deal is the following, Yaxley, I can tutor you once or twice a week top. While I'm tutoring, you don't talk, you listen" Natalia seemed about to say something, so he quickly added: "And I had to say it in front of your friends because I assumed you were about to ask Rosier to tutor you, but I'd prefer keeping the whole thing as secret as possible"

The Slytherin girl rolled her eyes

"What makes you think I would want people to know you're tutoring me? And it really wouldn't even matter because Nott and Allingway were there, so my whole house will know" she explained "And they're not my friends"

"Whatever, Yaxley. All I'm saying is that we can't be meeting in the Library or places like that; I don't really want people associating me with a snake. No offence" 

"None taken" she barked back.

"Great then" he made a smile out of that frown "Oh, and you're bringing more of those chocolates."

She nodded and that was the end of their conversation, not surprised he remembered the chocolates since they were the tastiest ones money could buy.

Sirius was telling the truth. He didn't only feel uneasy about people in general spending time with Rosier, let alone a person he had witnessed being mistreated by the leach; but he also decided maybe Natalia Yaxley wasn't as bad as he thought her to be and perhaps, he should give her a break.

After hearing what she and Jane Abbott talked about behind the benches, he was surprised to discover the witch actually had thoughts other than those concerning no one but herself. Previous to that, he had also realized during that day when they had been locked up together, that she was quite funny and not too much of a pain to have around. Altogether, Natalia Yaxley was becoming kind of a regular witch instead of an evil one, which made him feel compassion towards her, which was weird, because she was a Slytherin and he didn't like Slytherins because he wasn't like the rest of his purist family. But, he was a Gryffindor; he sometimes had to make sacrifices to help those who needed it.

He only hoped he wouldn't regret his act of bravery.


	7. chapter 7

**_Hi dears,_**

 ** _really sorry about how long I took to upload this one but I have been fixing up some things from previous chapters and I've been correcting some spelling mistakes and some more stuff, so yeah._**

 ** _Also I went to the movies yesterday and watched Bohemian Rhapsody with some friends and . . I've always loved Queen and Freddie and Rog and everyone else but I wasn't thaaaaat much into it but that has changed. If you have the time please go and watch it or rent it or buy it, just give it the credit it deserves (and yes, I know its not totally accurate but it still gave me chills) By the way I played Freddie Mercury in "Break Free" with my friends for my Drama class (fun fact)_**

 ** _Anywho, please enjoy this and I'd really appreciate a comment or a review or something to know you're actually enjoying this and I'm not writing just for the sake of it._**

 _Where absolutes are seen as relics_

 _And laughed out of the room_

 _And I'm scared to say your name_

 _Friday. October, 22. 1976_

Tutoring session took place at one of the old classrooms no one used anymore. He had explained to her how to get there and now both of them were sitting around an old desk, halfway through a box of chocolates and not even near a quarter of their book's chapter. She was wearing a pink headband she had once been told looked pretty on her; it accentuated her hair colour. Both teenagers were still on their school uniforms, despite it being a Friday after class; Natalia had taken quite a generous nap and woken up later than expected while Sirius had been working on a prank with James, which left him also, without time to switch outfits.

"I still don't understand it! I don't think I'll ever get it. It's just not for me"

Sirius rolled his eyes while closing his book patiently.

"You'll never understand it with that attitude"

"What attitude?"

"The ' _I can't get what I want easily so I just give up on it_ ' kind of attitude" he mimicked, making her sound like a child, or so she thought in annoyance "Just because Transfiguration's not your best subject doesn't mean you'll never get it"

"I'm not giving up on it!" she squeaked "If anything, I'm putting lots of extra effort, am I not taking lessons from you?"

The boy took a few seconds to think It over before he shrugged, agreeing on it "Still, you have to try harder."

"But I don't want to try harder!" she cried "I just want to drop this stupid class and do fun stuff"

"Then why don't you do it?" his annoyance was palpable on his voice, but of course Natalia didn't catch it. Instead, she saw it as a perfect opportunity to whine about her problems.

"Because of mother, obviously! I've tried telling her millions of times that this is useless for me and she's still making me take it! Something about being a better witch or so, but I don't get it"

"I don't see your brother taking it"

"I know, right? That's what I said. He gets to have a free period and I don't get to have anything"

They stood silent for a while after her little rant and then the Gryffindor cleared his throat while picking up the book they had just been working on and standing up. They had barely been studying for half an hour but he had important things to take care of and could see by the way the Slytherin's eyes grew a bit too open, that she was close to complain,

"Are you leaving? You can't leave if there's still doubts from the student, that's like teaching's number 1 rule, you knew that?" she accused, quickly standing up, not willing to let the other boy leave without the assurance she'd pass her next exam.

Sirius snorted.

"Not that I'm happy about it, but you do know we're meeting again on Tuesday, right? We'll go over it again then"

"Why can't we do it now?" she folded her arms

The boy rolled his eyes.

"Because, unlike you, I have a life of my own, and I happen to have a party to plan" he smiled petulantly "Not to mention I'm tired"

"A party? Where? I haven't hear a thing about a party"

Sirius snickered.

"Well of course you didn't. It's at Hufflepuff's and if I recall well, all of you snakes hate Hufflepuffs"

"We don't hate Hufflepuffs! We just make fun of them sometimes and so does the rest of Hogwarts"

Sirius denied with his head, but recognized the true on the girls' words, still not willing to admit it to her face. He guessed it was simple human nature; some Hufflepuffs were basically asking for someone to make fun of them and who were they to deny it to them?

"Whatever Yaxley, they don't like snakes. That's why no people from your house are going."

Natalia stood silent for a few moments, arms still crossed and eyes glued to the floor. Sirius would've left already if he didn't know for sure she was coming up with something to say and he had interest in hearing what said comeback was, since lately most things that came out of the witch mouths managed to somehow surprise him- either for the better or the worst.

"Well, I want to go"

That one hadn't really, but still, it was amusing to see that little head of hers thought she had any chances of going anywhere else but the dungeons. The boy looked at her on disbelief and then chuckled quietly, making the blonde frown.

"Why're you laughing for? I want to go, invite me"

Sirius still had an amused air on his face as he picked the rest of his stuff up and slowly answered: "No. In case you haven't realized, people from outside your house find you despicable and they don't like you. Not that I can blame them, really"

The boy was already walking out of the classroom already; satisfied with the shocked expression left on the witch's face which he couldn't actually see anymore but knew for sure was still there. If there was something he was sure of, it was that little Miss Yaxley didn't get enough people denying things to her, so he was glad to be the one to give her a right dose of it every once in a while, to keep her on her toes. He was really doing her a favour.

On the other end of the room, the girl frowned, that being the first time she was being told such things to her face. Of course she knew she wasn't high on her roommates' chards, but they never voiced it out loud to her, they'd simple stick to talking behind her back just as she did with them; and really, Natalia was bloody sure that all their dislike came from pure jealousy, so she didn't mind it on the least, if anything, it made her feel flattered. Sirius Black, however, may have been trying to be funny and smart with his comments just then but she didn't find it amusing on the least.

" _Locomotor wibbly_ " she whispered while taking a hold on her wand, a very average sized pretty dark laurel wooden one with dragon's heart core. She may've not been very good at Transfigurations, but for most other tasks her wand was just as effective as the regular wizard's.

Sirius fell down as if he was a dead weight, not expecting something like that to happen at all; had the magic not worked completely, he'd have probably still fallen over, due to the surprise. His legs had simply given in, collapsed, and there had been nothing to do about it once it happened; they felt like jelly. Not to mention that with the fall, it came the biggest pain on his arse, as he had landed on it first. If he had been able to stand up immediately after what happened, he'd have surely turned around and pay her back for whatever she had done with something much worse. He remembering having learnt that jinx back in third year and he had used it many times on others; he remembered fondly of this particular time, with Snivellous, but he had never had it used on him. That'd be his first.

There was no sound coming from either one of their mouths, and after Sirius allowed his legs to fully recover, thing which took about five minutes, he got himself back up again while relaying all his weight to a chair that was nearby. When he turned to look at the producer of the charm, he saw her sitting with her arms crossed In front of her chest and wearing a face that held not an ounce of regret nor self-preservation. If she was intimidated by the anger on his eyes, she didn't let it show.

"Did… did you just jinx me?" he asked slowly, arching his brows. Of course the question was pointless, given that it had obviously been the case, but since the witch seemed reluctant to talk, he had to be the one to do it.

"Of course I did. You were very rude" she said casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, as she gracefully crossed one leg in front of the other "Now apologize" she demanded.

He rolled his eyes, walking closer towards the blonde, so she could feel somehow intimidated by the now much visible height difference. However, it didn't seem as if he was having that much of a success since her face stood unchanged the closer he got. He couldn't describe what he was feeling at the moment, but something around a mixture of anger and impressment would do.

" _I_ must apologize… really? After _you_ jinxed me? Something doesn't sound quite right in that sentence, princess"

This time she rolled her eyes, not caring a bit about his logic and even less about that silly nickname which she found to be nothing but cute if anything. She looked at him tiredly, as if she had had it with waiting for him to do what he should.

"Apologize."

"No!"

"Invite me to the party then"

"Why do you even want to go to this bloody party? Don't you have anything else to do?"

Natalia smiled calmly.

"Yes, I just know how much it will piss you off if I go to yours. If you hadn't been so rude to me, maybe I'd have already dropped the whole subject and made plans of my own"

He was about to answer but realized that with a girl like Natalia Yaxley, their argument could go on and on forever and he really had to get going because he was in charge of the alcohol trafficking. So, he decided to do what he thought the smartest thing was which was to sigh and agree much to his displeasure; after all, there was a really big chance she was indeed just doing it to annoy him and may not even show up at the end of the day.

"Meet me by the second bathroom in the third floor at eight tomorrow"

When he left, Natalia tried to smile. She had gotten what she wanted, once again, but she found herself unable to twitch the corners of her mouth, Sirius Black's harsh words being the only thing echoing through her head.

When she told Sirus the reason why she wanted to go, she wasn't lying. At the begging she had just asked because she wanted to see his reaction, she believed that out of courtesy he ought to invite her, she wouldn't have attended, of course, because Jane and her had plans, but when he denied in such a disrespectful way she just couldn't stop insisting. He had called her _despicable_ and many other things. She made it a promise to herself to now go and ruin his whole Halloween night just as he had ruined her day.

Jane and Natalia had no trouble getting past the Dungeons that night. Terry Shaquif, the prefect who was in charge of that night's patrol had only made it into the Quidditch team as a backup after Regulus Black's official entrance to the team and hadn't had yet the chance to play. Natalia promised him she could get him to play a game or two during the year should he let them pass without questions, so he let them get away. Not to mention, she guessed tons of people would be going just as her during that night; sneaking out during weekends seemed to be the upper years favourite hobby.

Their escape from the common room had been successful, since not many people were there to begin with, unlike many other nights. Simon Yaxley and the rest of the boys were on a meeting, while the girls decided to stick to the comfort of their room. And so the two blondes were waiting nervously where Sirius told them to—well, he had technically told Natalia, but it was natural she would tell Jane. She wouldn't dream of going anywhere without her best friend, especially not somewhere full of people who found her _despicable_ , according to Sirius Black. The feeling the girlfriends shared was absolutely natural given the situation, or so they had told themselves, one was seeing the boy she fancied and the other the boy she hated.

"Do you really think this skirt looks good on me? I mean, James is going to be there, don't you think I should have worn something nicer?"

"Jane that skirt is one of the nicest I have, for Merlin's sake. I got it in Gladrags Wizard Wear when I was in Paris" her best friend said, touching the material "See? It's wool! I completely adore it! Feels nice, doesn't it?"

The witch frowned

"It feels a bit itchy…"

"That's because you're wearing thin stockings! I told you to wear thicker ones"

"Well I didn't have any because I was only informed we were coming to this party twenty minutes ago. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Natalia rolled her eyes

"First off, I told you an hour ago and I did it so you wouldn't have time to convince me not to go. Now stop it. The skirt looks lovely on you, we're almost the same waist size, surprisingly; I only had to fix it up once"

"Yes, and you're also at least twenty centimeters shorter than I am" she added "Speaking of that, do you think your skirt looks, maybe, too short on me? Because I-

She was unable to finish her whining because soon enough there it were Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. The first looking absolutely pissed, Potter showing a huge smile and the other two seemed frankly a bit nervous and out of place.

"Hey, Jane" The boy with glasses immediately said

"Hi, James!" she replied, almost too excited "Hi everyone"

Both Remus and Peter said their greetings to both the girls very respectfully, thing to which Natalia replied to with a short nod, barely registering them. Sirius, however, stood silent with is arms crossed over his chest, like a little boy who isn't happy about the company his parents are forcing him to frequent.

He had been hoping no one would be waiting there for him, thinking the girl's head would have luckily made some sense out of the situation and decided instead what anyone with a brain would've done, to stay at her house; but he was terribly disappointed to find her standing there alongside with another snake. Of course he could've opted not to show up at all and avoiding the risk of actually finding her there, but he had made the mistake of telling his mates about the whole conversation, and Remus had forced him and everyone else to turn up, just in case; it wasn't nice to stand people up, he said, not even snakes.

"Are you ready then?" he asked, full of annoyance and with no much patience left.

Both girls nodded, and were soon following the boy towards Hufflepuff''s common room, which happened to be just passing the kitchens, thing Natalia didn't fail to notice, squeezing her best friend's hand to let her know as well, in case she hadn't realized. She cursed herself for not really paying attention on the way there, because she didn't know how to get there again, but hopefully on her way out she would memorize it better.

At the entrance, a small first or second year was waiting, looking quite terrified when he caught up on the arrival of the group of older students. He seemed tired; clearly they were interrupting his curfew which should have been at least half an hour ago.

"H-hi" he managed to say "Are you coming to the party?"

The boys nodded and after, the little kid tapped the barrels in the rhythm of some sort of song none of the Gryffindors nor Slytherins knew of and thought was as silly as they came, perfectly suitable for the badger's house, really. After the catchy melody was over, the door slit open and all of them got into the warm place, James messing up with the little boy's hair on a playful manner right before entering.

Once inside, they were greeted by loud music, cheerful faces and the unmistakable and always welcoming smell of alcohol. How they had been able to manage to keep all of that secretive was a big wonder that none of the teenagers cared for to think about. For the boys, there were tons of people smiling at them and giving their greetings, the girls instead were left there without people taking a second glance at their faces, which they supposed was good, considering the minute they realized who they were they'd probably ask them to leave.

Sirius turned around to look at Natalia, for the very first time in the night and once they were face to face they were able to see the indisputable big amount of annoyance resting in each other's eyes, none of them happy about the given situation. He was annoyed because he had not only been forced to invite and also escort someone he didn't like to a party, and she was still hurt about the things he had said before and that those words along with her bloody pride were the reasonwhy she had to be standing at Hufflepuff's common room on a perfect Friday night when she was supposed to be having fun at her own house.

"Here's the deal, get lost and don't talk to me during the whole night, go it?" and not waiting for an answer, Sirius Black left, followed by Lupin close behind, who shot a apologetic smile towards the blonde.

James talked for a fair bit with Jane, asking her quite mundane stuff; after all they spoke every day since they've been paired, but still managed to make conversation out of the silliest things and chuckles were never missing from their encounters.

Clearly, Natalia wasn't pleased to have her best friend busy when she didn't have anyone to talk to but chose to ignore such fact knowing that the taller witch surely was enjoying the chat with Potter and would still for a while. Looking around the room inspecting everything that surrounded her, on an effort to look busy and not too awkward, she failed to notice how Peter was trying to get closer to her, aiming to gain her attention.

"Are you having fun?" he said loudly and quickly, compressing somewhat of a smile.

Natalia lowered her look to where he stood- her heels giving her an advantage, height wise. It appeared as if it was the first time she noticed he was there, which probably was the case.

"I just got here" she replied drily.

Peter answered a few seconds too late, resulting on the girl losing what little interest she had on the conversation, posing her eyes to where Jane and James stood chatting happily.

"Yes, yes, sorry about that" he said quietly, blushed ears and cheeks "You look nice" he added. It wasn't only the true but his friends always said girls liked to hear things as such.

Natalia nodded, not really listening anymore. Perhaps If she had, she'd have at least muttered a ' _thank you'_ since compliments were always nice, but instead, walked away towards something that caught her eye, leaving the small Gryffindor standing by himself with a feeling of utter embarrassment. Why did he have to be so weird around girls?

On a corner of the room two witches were standing awkwardly, both of them with drinks in their hands. Natalia immediately recognized both of them and smiled; relief visible across her face. The long light haired one was Amelia Avery and the brunette, Anilius Scytale, both pureblood seventh years from Slytherin. Natalia knew them from social events where they'd share greetings and polite smiles but being older they really never spent that much time together or talked at all.

"I can see both of you seem as lost as I feel" Natalia chuckled with a smile on her lips, soon joining the small gathering and making herself visible for the other two.

The girls looked surprised but soon enough offered a relieved smile, much like the one Natalia had herself, their shoulders not as tense anymore.

"It's good to find you here, Yaxley" Amelia, the most disinhibited one of the two said.

"Natalia, please" the witch insisted, making the older two smile.

"We're getting a bit gloomy being the only Slytherins and all"

Natalia nodded with a friendly smile.

"And how did you hear about the party?"

"Anilius's fiancée invited us" she said while taking a gulp out of her drink "He's a Hufflepuff" Amelia added, suppressing a small smile which she guessed was only for her to see, and not her friend.

The younger witch frowned. While having heard that the only heiress of the Scytale family on the British side recently got engaged, she still didn't know with whom, just assuming it would be with someone older or a foreigner.

"Tobias Fawley" the brunette clarified, noticing the interest of the youngest Slytherin "He's over there" she pointed with her head.

Natalia turned her eyes to get a good look out of the wizard. Tobias Fawley was a good looking and good hearted pureblood boy, related to Natalia through their great-great grandmother, who they shared, but then again, so did many other purebloods.

"So sweet!" She exclaimed to the brunette who offered her a smile.

Soon enough, Jane joined them all, a not so pleased look on her face. She was about to rant to her best friend about whatever happened to her, but Natalia elbowed her so she would notice they had company and that it would be rude to start off their conversation yelling and whining. So indeed, she had to keep all those Lily Evans related hate poems to herself, at least for a while.

"Hi!" she said quickly, recovering from the surprise of seeing them there "I'm Jane"

Both the older girls smiled, and the blonde one even giggled a little.

"We know, you silly head. You're Jane Abbott"

The younger girl went a little red on the cheeks.

"Well, enough talking all of us" Amelia said "We should show these people the way Slytherins do it"

All of them smiled and laughed, agreeing with her. Amelia was obviously referring to the way snakes liked to party which was slightly better than the way the people in the room accustomed by the looks of it. Usually, parties in Salazar's house involved a lot of snogging and related things, smarter robes and people who could hold their alcohol way better than fellow wizards could, which by consequence meant, more alcohol.

"Here, have our drinks" Anilius said "I'll tell Tobias to get us new ones" she explained to her friend and left so she could get a hold of her fiancée.

It was firewhisky and while both sixth years had enjoyed of its flavor and effect before, this time it felt different: it was sweet and wasn't as strong as they were used to having it, making them both frown immediately upon the missing burning feeling on their throats which they had been so eager to receive.

"Bland, isn't?" Avery smiled while catching both girls' attention "These Hufflepuff's have a weak tolerance, that's for sure. I've drank 3 already and I'm as sober as a gobbling"

Soon, Anilius was back with more drinks she could hold, her fiancée following behind and carrying some more. He got into small polite conversation, which he started, with both Jane and Natalia and left soon after to chat with some of his friends. Natalia couldn't help but think about how much she'd like to be engaged to such a boy like that; not a Hufflepuff, of course, that'd be embarrassing, but everything else about him was just right.

By themselves again, the four girls were having loads of fun, dropping one or two not so kind comments about the people that surrounded them which caused all the others to giggle, but mostly having typical girlfriends' conversations. Since the alcohol tasted so light they had several cups during the night, causing on a big amount of hugging and silly talking as if the four were friends since ancient times.

Jane had already told them all about her long time crush on James Potter and they all seemed sympathetic of it and told her that the 'mudblood' stood no chance against someone as good cute and smart as Jane. Avery told them how she had been engaged to the same person for years, one of the Nott boys who had left school about three years ago, and how excited she was about finally marrying him; according to her, Thimaeus was a smart, handsome and funny man, besides he was older, which meant that he had multiplied his family fortune by now. Anilius didn't tell much about her engagement or any personal subject whatsoever but was sympathetic towards anything the other drunken teenagers said; she was simply not really talkative, as neither were her own parents, as Natalia could clearly remember from one Yule party years ago.

"So, Black offered to help you and then said all those things to you?" Amelia asked horrified, a hand resting over Natalia's shoulder

Natalia took a big gulp and saw the end of her cup. Again.

"Yes, he said that I was despicable and disgusting and all sorts of things! I almost cried!" she whined in indignation, her words still could be understood, but if she kept going the way she had so far with the alcohol, soon Natalia Yaxley would be blabbering like a baby.

"Oh, you poor thing!" The older witch said, placing her free hand over Natalia's own "I remember what he did to this girl in your year a few years before, he tricked her into thinking that Alastar Travels-

"That was me"

" _Oh_ "

"And you know what's worse?" Natalia said after "I feel bad! I thought we were somehow kind of getting along… you know? I think that's just what he does to people; pretends he's nice to them and then betrays them. Just as he' has done with everyone around him, even his own family. I'm silly for feeling this way, am I not?"

"Oh, of course not, he's a dorcus"

"Totally"

"Absolutely, Nat"

Natalia looked down and grabbed her 7th cup of firewhisky which would likely not make it to end of the hour. It was a nice thing they had moved right next to the drinks table so they were very easy to replace once one came to an end.

"Then why do I feel like he isn't?!" She cried "He was so nice offering to teach me and I-I tried to be nice to him and then he was mean and I wanted to be meaner" she explained.

"Then go and be mean" Amelia encouraged, a wide smile creeping across her face.

"But I don't want to be mean to him! I want him to like me" Natalia said quickly with teary eyes. She so not wanted to cry over someone she hated and who very likely hated her back, but she was a very drunk teenager girl who didn't handle rejection very well, not much more could be expected from her, and that's how she justified her whining.

"Then why don't you tell him that?" the dark haired girl asked, a bit tired of the blonde's crying, not drunk enough to keep listening to her high pitched voice as her friend was.

"Here, let's go find him" Jane took her hand quickly "I am completely and most certainly sure James will know where he is" she said, stumbling a bit with the words, after all, that was a very long sentence for a drunk witch to make.

And without taking a second to think about it, the two girls were giggling, holding each other hands and walking on a line so they wouldn't crash with as many people. Natalia cleaned off her tears quickly and decided that what she was about to do was completely normal and necessary.

They found James Potter quite easily, considering he always seemed to be watched by many more members of the party, who silently hoped they were drunk enough to go and talk to him, because let's face it, James Potter was a cool guy to either have as a friend, or as a beau. He was holding a drink on his hand when they spotted him, fixing his glasses to steady them, talking to an annoyed looking Lily Evans, fact that made the Slytherin girls roll their eyes.

Soon, Jane was in front of the guy, stepping over the redhead who's annoyance levels seemed to be up to the roof after that, leaving soon as a result, making James's eyes follow her with desperation.

"Hi, James. Having fun? I am" The blonde said while putting on an enormous smile which made all her tiny face go funny. She crooked her neck to the left, to block James view from the redhead. If James Potter was paying attention to anyone that night, she decided that for the first time, it should be her.

The boy, far too polite to do anything else, smiled at his friend, understanding that she had probably had far too many drinks to even realize that she had just scared Lily away from him. And really, he had to admit, he had probably scared her off himself.

"Indeed it seems like you are" he chuckled, putting the other girl on the back of his mind "How much of that had you had?" he pointed to the glass.

The witch just looked back at her friend and both of them giggled like first years that had too much candy on Halloween.

"I'll take that as a lot" James laughed.

"That's not important now… mate" Jane smiled, touching his chest with one of her fingers playfully, making the last word pop when coming out of her mouth "Now, tell us where Black is"

James frowned, smiling with amusement at the confidence with which the girl had commanded him to do something.

"Why do you want to know where Sirius is?"

Jane rolled her eyes, laughing.

" _I_ don't wanna know where he is, I only care about knowing where you are, mister" she giggled, clenching her nose and then pointed to her friend " _She_ is the one who wants to know where he is"

The boy seemed surprised and babbled a bit but replied soon: "Er… he just left with Marlene 'few seconds ago, actually" he fixed his glasses "They should be getting out or out already"

Natalia didn't waste a second of her time and soon left the scene meanwhile Jane was now with the only boy she wanted to be seen with.

It was only James and Jane there, no one else who mattered around, and what's more important, Jane's shyness was nowhere to be seen either. The boy seemed to find her newly discovered confidence quite amusing, and he thought it did her good. She didn't seem to lose the smile off her face, her make up making her look slightly older, and her demeanor so different from usual, but still Jane, just different.

"Are you having a nice time, Jane?" he asked politely while taking a short sip from his drink. He was drinking his alcohol with lemon juice, since he didn't like the taste of the first.

"Well, I was, but my friends abandoned me" she noticed, placing one of her lips over the other, a childish thing to do, which James thought was cute.

"Not all, I'm here" he smiled.

She looked at him for a long minute, which for her only felt like seconds but made the boy laugh a little bit awkwardly. She smiled at his features, dazzled. She really liked how his eyes weren't really brown but light hazel instead and they had little toffee dots, which she knew he had gotten from his mother. Those eyes seemed so kind all the time and they made her feel special even when she knew there wasn't a reason why he should find her to be so. His lips were thin and pink and she could see a little bit of skin peeling out of them; if Natalia could see that she would've been horrified but Jane liked it. She liked everything about the Gryffindor.

"So, what do you think of the party?" he asked awkwardly, not sure how to behave when having someone staring right at his face "The rest of the Quidditch team and I helped organized; it's our seeker's girlfriend birthday, Emma Thornwood, do you know her?"

"Good party!" she yelled, completely ignoring most of what he said, too distracted by his physic. "You look nice"

He got a little red on the cheeks and laughed it off since he had never gotten that kind of compliment said to his face from anyone who wasn't Mrs. Potter or related to him in some way.

"You too, Jane"

That had decided it for her. In Jane's blurry mind, those words only meant one thing, and it was that he liked her as much as she liked him. Then, without thinking it, she leaned over for a kiss. She just really wondered what his lips would feel like and she thought maybe that night she was pretty enough for him to accept her. She wasn't asking for much, just a tiny kiss, and so she went for it.

James' eyes went wide when he noticed what the blonde was trying to do and soon enough he grabbed her gently yet quickly by the arms to stop her, taking a few steps back while doing so.

"Jane, you're too drunk, aren't you?" he said playfully, recovering from his initial shock, not thinking too deep of it, after all, that's what drunk people did, they just tried making out with people not matter who they were "Really, how many drinks have you had?"

Jane shrugged.

"Who cares?" she muttered like a little kid, her eyes getting teary and angry "No one cares and you don't care and I don't even care"

She had hiccups and was now crying, something James would have found adorable if seeing it on a play or from a different perspective. He looked at the girl in front of him, the girl he considered a friend and who he knew didn't like him that way; she was simply too intoxicated to distinguish what was appropriate for friends and what wasn't. Soon, she was burying her face on his chest and hugging him by the waist; it took him by surprise, but soon he hugged back, touching her back delicately, too scared to hurt her if he applied too much pleasure.

Just as he was thinking that it felt somehow nice, he flinched when he felt her puke on his shiny shoes.

Natalia was dead sure she had ripped her tights on her way out of Hufflepuff's common room; she was just trying to be fast not to let the boy get away. Who cared about the tights? She had thousands of them at home.

She wasn't quite sure why she was doing what she was doing. Sure, what she had told the other Slytherins had been true, she truly felt like she and Sirius Black were becoming some kind of friends again, one of those odd pairings everyone finds strange but work anyway, like Snape and Evans, but what he had told her hours before made it clear he didn't find anything about her good enough to be friendly material. She really just wanted to ask him why.

It was really confusing and she hadn't want to admit it before, but she had really liked the feeling when he defended her that Friday night when Rosier tried to hurt her; she had been way too embarrassed then to notice it but when she was in bed about to fall asleep, it was all she could think about. Never had any boy from outside her family done something like that for her, to stand up for her to another wizard of such a family as the Rosiers were, for instance. Wizards barely talked to her, let alone do something as nice as what Sirius Black had done that night, and he didn't' even like her. She knew the whys of boys not paying her any mind, for she had heard the gossiping behind her back: if they knew her enough, they found her too silly and childish, if they didn't, they found her scary. Sirius seemed to see her as both those things and yet so many more and none of those were an impediment for him to do nice things for her in such odd ways, like offering for tutoring or calling Evan out.

She could feel he did, and she thought that he knew she knew. It was only a suspicion at first, but after that night at Hagrid's it became evident: _she interested him_. Probably not on a romantic or even sexual kind of way, but he found interest in her personality and the things she did and the things she liked. He hadn't really expressed it out loud, but she could tell; the way he looked at her down at the forest, how he listened when she spoke about the silliest things—even if he would tell her off about it after; he also laughed at her jokes, when he didn't find them offensive, something only Jane did.

And she'd be lying if she didn't say she found him equally interesting as well. There was no point denying that she paid a lot of attention to boys, always analyzing if any of them could make a good husband or if they were romantic or smart, but she always got bored after studying someone for a while, especially if she got to know them a little. Not with Sirius. He was something else; no matter how long it passed, there was something about him that would never bore her. He was so profound, so much more than anyone else; he was the boy everyone wanted to have, both sides, pure and not, yet, none of them could have him; he was too rebellious for purebloods and their rules, making him even more exciting and desirable and he was also a Black, so people from the other side were weary of him as well, the traditions he was indulged since a young age hard to die. Everyone wanted to love him, and they somehow did, their own way. Natalia believed, and she truly did, that if she wanted to and tried hard enough, she could be the one who could love him fully, to love all of him, both sides.

She didn't love him though; he scared her, no matter how hard she tried to deny it. He was so close to be all she and her family despised; her father had said once in fact, a couple of years back " _That Black boy is bad news, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up a blood traitor next year. Poor Orion_ " Yes, she was too scared of what he could potentially become to be In love with him or even fancy him, but yet… she couldn't deny she was attracted to him, and she believed, deep in her heart, that he was attracted to her as well, like friends.

It did pass her mind that maybe all those thoughts were just there because of the alcohol but soon realized they were there from way before that night, the firewhisky simply being the antidote that allowed her to stop suppressing them. She could only hope he had drank enough too to let the feelings she sure knew he had out as well and they could finally be… friends? Yes, she guessed she wanted them to be friends, like when they were little.

Outside the common room she looked both ways on the corridor and the sound of steps made her run to the left, assuming it could be no other but him. She ran for less than a minute when she caught sight of Sirius Black cornering a blonde girl who looked an awful lot like Marlenne McKinnon. She frowned at the picture but decided not to pay too much attention to it, her mind only able to focus on one thing, if she did drift away from her purpose, she'd probably forget about it.

"Black!" she shouted, a bit out of breath "Black, pay attention to me! I need to talk to you"

Sirius's cocky smile vanished while he turned his face slowly, hoping the person who he thought was yelling at him was someone else than the snake girl. His smile was completely gone when he realized what he feared was true: it was no one else but her. Why was she there? Merlin only knew, and Sirius Black knew it wasn't his place to figure it out,.

He ignored her, hoping she'd get the hint and walk away and turned back to Marlenne whose brown eyes were pleading for an explanation, which he hoped she'd soon forget of. He had had too much of Natalia Yaxley for the day, the remaining sharp pain on his arse a reminder of that; the girl was absolutely draining. He was about to whisper something silly on the Gryffindor girl's ear, thinking the Slytherin girl was long gone, when she spoke again:

" _Please?_ "

He had never heard her use such a soft tone when talking to him, nor that word when talking to anyone. He rolled his eyes, not really believing he was about to do what he was about to do. A voice inside his head told him many times to stay with the Gryffindor he was with and to let the other witch go away, but he didn't. He couldn't stop himself. He pulled his arm off the wall and took a few steps back from Marlenne.

"It will only be a second" he said quickly, winking an eye cockily.

The Gryffindor witch opened and closed her mouth multiple times, trying to argue against it but it didn't seem to matter as Sirius was already walking away from her, not waiting for an answer. Did he even care about what her answer was? Both of them wondered the same thing and for the sake of their own minds dropped the question. He was indeed curious about whatever Yaxley had to say to him, he had to admit, as he mostly all the time was.

When they were both next to each other the blonde witch nodded, her own way of saying thank you, he guessed, and began walking, gesturing him to follow, which he did. They both walked in silence until they were away enough from the party, not looking at each other's faces even once, every once in a while sneaking a peak at each other. At some point she went ahead of him and he had the chance to observe her from behind.

Her light tights were ripped, she was wearing an almost knee length pink skirt and her walk was being sloppy. Her blonde hair was very curly, even if he could had sworn she had it almost straight when going to the party. He could clearly state she was drunk, being on a similar state as well. However, drunk or not, he still couldn't understand why she was taking him away from the rest of the party. Better yet, he couldn't understand why he was allowing her to do so.

They stopped walking once they reached the greenhouse, a fair way from the party. She got in first, the tunnel which took one into the room being too tight for two people, making him follow behind without saying a word. How she managed to get in there in her drunken state was unexplainable to Sirius.

He sighed and she turned rapidly, now looking at him but still a few meters away. With one hand on a desk and the other over her hip, she looked upset; he could tell that. It felt as if she was struggling to let whatever she had to say out.

"You have to promise not to be mean" she said.

Sirius blinked.

"What?"

"Promise me you won't be mean to me!" she repeated, getting the hand out of the table and hugging her other arm with it "I won't be mean to you in return, _I promise_ " 

"What is this all about?"

"Sometimes you're so nice" she let out quickly, not even talking to him anymore but to herself instad "and… and It feels good. And I know I probably shouldn't be saying this and I've been drunk before so I think that's probably it, but you make me feel nice and according to Millie Wickholm from Twitch Weekly if someone who's a wizard makes you feel like that it means you fancy them but I don't fancy you! I just wanna be friends with you"

"Why—

"And sometimes you're so mean as well and it makes me really mad and sad at the same time but I think I feel like I kind of forgive you so much easier than I would to other people. Does that mean I fancy you?" She arched a brow "I don't think so, I just wanna be friends with you" she repeated.

To say least, the dark haired boy was… surprised.

That was the first time something like that had ever happened to him. She had indeed left him speechless. Was she confessing to fancy him? A whole new experience for him. All those times, with all those other girls, it had always been him the one to open his heart out or well, pretend to do it; but there it was: Natalia Yaxley, Slytherin, pureblood, blood supremacist, and someone who had claimed to loathe him and his friends, claiming that there was a small chance she fancied him while she kept on repeating she wanted them to be friends.

He preferred not to think of Natalia when they weren't forced to spend time together, he came to realized that it made everything easier. Thinking of her usually made doubts rise and he didn't like them one bit. He had doubted enough when he had been merely a child living under Slytherin guidance while hanging out with Gryffindors and slag; he had been divided back then between staying faithful to his family and their believes or his friends and theirs, and he had made a choice which he decided would soon voice out for the rest of the world to know. Yes, he had been through all of that, to now have a little witch making him wonder if it is possible for a person not to be fully evil despite some of their choices and actions.

Then it came Natalia Yaxley, a person who had always been there during the early years as she was sometimes a victim of his pranks, as most of her peers were, but not quite as much after their third when they began avoiding each other for Merlin's own sake. However, for some stranger reason, ever since their sixth year began, she managed to end up in every place he seemed to be at, and she raises questions and doubts from him; he found some things she said funny, things that his friends wouldn't, but he and Natalia did; he took pleasure from all the silly bourgeois things she did, not matter how much he tried to deny it: it was soothing to see how she knew which utensils to use when eating, just as he did but ignored, and he liked that she spoke French so much better than he did; and he knew, above all, that he shouldn't like those things, he should despise them, those where things his and her parents liked. Out of all the things, what he most liked about her was that she could always surprise him; he had been shocked when he had come to learnt the young witch had a warm heart for animals and creatures, something really unlike a high class pureblood witch; he was also often surprised at how much she could talk and wear her feelings out on her sleeve, she was straight forwards and always let him know how she felt about things he did or other stuff.

For all those reasons he decided, without really knowing it, it was better to distract himself with some other thought as soon as her name would pop into his mind. He supposed now, filled with alcohol and with nothing but honesty in his mind, that maybe he liked her and that was simply unacceptable. Had he really just turned into everything his family told him he should be? Was this just the beginning for a serious number of other things that would change on his personality and that would lead into him becoming just the same as every single other member of his family?

He tried really hard to think about the fact that Natalia Yaxley was nothing more than a spoiled pureblood that had grown a fancy on him and that he shouldn't let that fact change anything among them. But as he saw her standing there, his eyes couldn't keep away from her rosy lips, which were really pink and he couldn't stop wondering if that was due some kind of cosmetic spell or just natural; somehow, it became a necessity for him to know.

Natalia looked up and down, searching for something to say to make him say something. She felt silly. Had she really said all those things? Was she going to regret it in the morning? She knew what the answer to that was. Maybe she should make clear once more that she only wanted them to be friends, because that's what she wanted. But she didn't say it.

They stared at each other for what seemed hours, both of them had their mouths slightly open but no sound was coming out of them. He walked over her slowly, as if he was encountering a wild animal, he needed to know. She stood still, not even daring to blink, feeling a bit sick, everything spinning around her. Was he going to jinx her to pay back from before? Was he going to kiss her? She hoped he would do the last. Wait, _had she just thought that?_

For him, she no longer seemed like Natalia Yaxley, " _daughter and member of_ ", the pureblood brat that he learnt to despise after all those years in Hogwarts. Right there she was no other than Natalia, the girl who protected Harvey when she found it hurt in the woods; she was the girl who ate 5 slices of pizza and loved them; the girl who couldn't get a proper Transfiguration thing right. She was attractive and interesting and different from everyone else, both pureblood and not.

He stood right in front of her. Grey eyes over blue. Her skin seemed smooth and he felt desperate to touch it, so he did. With one hand over her cheek he stared back into her lips which he learnt didn't have anything more than a light gloss, so it appeared it was all her. Why had it taken him so long to notice her lips were the best ones in all Hogwarts? Who was he to deny himself a taste of those lips? Who cared who she was? It was just them there and no one needed to know, it would all be gone in the morning.

It was a slow, small kiss at first. Their lips were apart seconds after they touched, their breath colliding against the other's. After looking into each other's eyes and confirming that what they wanted to do next was wanted by both, they began snogging. It was very… desperate; the kind of way two drunken teenagers who had waited for long to do it would do it. He held her by the waist and she posed her hands over his shoulders. Soon enough, he had her over the desk, legs slightly open; just enough for his torso to fit in between and keep with the snogging session, hands going up and down each other's bodies, discovering each inch of them.

The only words exchanged between them were

 _"Is this wrong?"_

 _"Maybe"_

They kept kissing for much longer an average couple would. He even kissed her places where she never thought one should be kissed, like her neck and collarbone. They only broke the snogging session when they heard steps coming from the corridors, which pulled them back with reluctance from both wizards; they looked at each other's eyes and deciding it wasn't over, they kept kissing.

It was over when they heard those noises again, and after agreeing on it, they left on separated ways, none of them caring to be caught by any prefects of professors of ghosts, both still too intoxicated with alcohol and each other to think of the existence of consequences for anything they had just done.

One thing was for sure. Sirus Black knew Natalia Yaxley tasted like vanilla.


	8. chapter 8

**_don't forget. J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter and it's series. I only own my OCs_**

 _Let's face it, making mistakes like this will make worse what was already pretty bad_

 _Mind, stop running_

 _It's time we just let this thing go_

 _It was a pretty good bad idea, wasn't it though?_

 _Saturday. October, 23. 1976_

Natalia never felt more embarrassed as she did when the alcohol from the night drifted away. She had carried herself to her bedroom, both arms hugging her own frame, holding a black sweater she wanted to bury in Azkaban, eyes glued to the floor and silent as a lamb. She had expected to be able to talk with Jane about it but the witch was fast asleep and when she had tried to wake her up, the taller blonde began throwing up, forcing Natalia to clean it up before any of her roommates could wake up and notice, or what was worse, smell it.

She didn't want to be alone, because if she was alone it meant she had time to think, and if she had time to think, she would do it over what had just happened hours ago and thinking of that made her want to die out of embarrassment. She couldn't believe what they'd done, what she had done. The feeling of uneasiness was so strong in fact, that she had woken up at 6 on a Saturday morning, a day when she normally wouldn't dream of opening her eyes before 10:30 am.

She walked into the common room, hoping her eyes didn't look as red as she though they would after such a small amount of sleep. She hadn't cried yet, in fact, she didn't know if she even wanted to. The feeling on her chest felt nothing but strange, she felt things in a way she'd never felt them before. She did feel embarrassed but she wasn't sure if she regretted what had happened, one little part of her thought that maybe, just maybe, it was for the better.

According to the little amount of things she knew about the subject, when Sirius Black had kissed her neck she had let out a few groans, which meant she liked that; and when she had kissed him on the neck, he tried to hide a bump on his pants, which meant he liked it, and that whole thing made her want to hide her face under a gnome's hole and let them kick her until she died, and she wasn't even being dramatic.

He had taken off his sweater and when he left the room forgot about it and left it there, making Natalia the responsible one to hide the evidence, so she took it to her room, with all the shame that it implied and put it next to his other sweater, which she still had from Hagrid's night, inside her trunk. If she kept on with her odd behavior, soon her trunk would have more of Sirius Black's clothes than her own.

She had dared to touch him too, not a lot but he seemed to like it. Of course it was only over his trousers but it still made the neck kissing increase, thing _she_ liked. Now, without fire whisky, she didn't like any of those things anymore and found it hard to imagine anyone else would.

They kept making out for hours and when they lay down on the floor he fell asleep for a while, one of his hands over her chest; she did the same. Natalia was the one to wake up first to find the reckless feeling from the firewhisky long gone and that the touch of the lion who laid next to her only burned; she woke him up to let him know and when they heard footsteps again, he got up to leave and she waited for him to do it for her to follow as well.

When she woke up the next morning, she took a long bath after she double checked on Jane, making sure the young witch hadn't stoped breathing during her sleep. She was in fact so distracted, that she forgot to add bubbles to her bath, something she always did. She didn't stop washing herself until every single place Sirius had touched smelled of peaches.

Everything about the previous night embarrassed her, but nothing nearly as much as the things she had said to him. Apparently, she fancied him, something that as much as it hurt her to admit, made sense, however, she didn't discard the possibility that perhaps she just wanted them to be friends, as she had stated before. In her warm bathtub, she admitted that whatever the feelings she had for the boy had been there for quite a while, perhaps ever since the day they got detention together, more than a month ago.

The common room was deserted, everyone clearly still sleeping from the previous night party. The dark colours of her house which had always felt so comforting then felt utterly depressing and frivolous; she wished she was home, under the embrace of her own room and own bed.

She decided to lay down on the large sofa, and by doing so began thinking about the Black boy again, wondering If he was also awake thinking of her or was sleeping like a baby, not even caring about what had happened; she quickly tried to make the thoughts go away. She was feeling terrible! Why was she still thinking of him when he had embarrassed her in the most terrible of ways? He kissed her and took away her first kiss after she had left her heart out and he had said nothing about it? Really unfair, she thought.

Yes, it was her first kiss. One she wanted to have with someone who adored her and truly liked her, perhaps her future husband, she'd have fancied; Sirius Black neither adored her nor wanted to become her husband.

Deciding she could no longer keep torturing herself on the wait for someone to wake up and keep her company, she decided to go after the only person she could think of. Really, the only person in the castle besides Jane who she felt she could trust. It wasn't that she would confess herself to this person, nothing good would come out of that, but she wanted to be on the company of someone who loved her no matter what.

She crawled into Simon's bed and saw that she would be facing his back, which made her smile. Natalia got herself comfortable, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them, resting her back against her brother's. Her touch made him aware that someone was there in a matter of seconds, always being a light sleeper, unlike his twin. Of course, even on the sleepiest of states, he had no doubt who that person was.

"What? Tally? Wha—what're you doing here?"

"I had a nightmare" she lied, her voice sounding fragile, which backed up the nightmare scape goat but had deeper motives than that.

Simon sighed, sitting up. With his legs crossed, he looked over his sister and realized that there was definitely something wrong with her. There, she looked way smaller than she already was on a daily basis. Call it twin sense or whatever, but he could tell he was dealing with something more than just a nightmare, but he wasn't about to mention it.

She used to do that quite a lot when they were children whenever something would make her upset. She'd just get into his room without even calling and both would lay back against back, Simon not really minding it, telling each other stories to get her distracted about whatever was torturing her mind. Like the night before their first year at Hogwarts when Natalia had been so scared about ending up in Hufflepuff and she only calmed down after Simon reassured her that there was no way they'd like someone who didn't share her sweets into that house, making her laugh so hard she had peed on her pants. She had also done that a lot on times when their mother would get upset about things she did, which she thought were silly and Simon assured her not to pay any mind to.

Their father had told them that that's how they used to always lay when babies whenever the elves would try to put them to nap in the same crib. He thought they liked doing that because he assumed that was the way he would've been positioned while in their mother's womb.

The memories from his childhood only made him produce somehow of a smile and soon he laid down again, his back against hers. He felt her shoulders relax upon the touch, and that made him smile. He would had liked to offer some other words, to let her know that she could trust him with whatever was making her feel upset, but he was a man, and men didn't do those things; instead, he did what he knew best, try to distract her and hope she'd smile.

"A first year fancies me" he let out. It was true. Of course he hadn't planned on telling anyone, but the situation called for it "She left a poem for me after Quidditch practice; did you know my eyes shine more than a hundred constellations?"

She giggled and kicked him softly with the back of her foot.

She took a sip out of her warm butterbeer and rested her cheek on her hand. None of the two witches who were sitting together at Hogsmeade seemed to be happy. It was indeed strange none of them were speaking, since it seemed to be their activity of preference when together.

The tallest girl hadn't even wanted to get out of the castle, too embarrassed anyone from the party would recognize her, but Simon Yaxley had invited both her and his sister for butterbeer, his treat. He had paid for the whole lot and enjoyed a few minutes with them, mainly talking nonsenses with his twin, but soon he had abandoned them for an important meeting with some other boys from their house that stopped by and demanded for him to go with them.

"So…" Natalia began "you really threw up on his shoes?" she asked with a tiny smile, glad to know at least someone else had done embarrassing things that night.

Jane hid her face immediately, resting her forearms over the table while shaking her head with embarrassment, a large groan full of displeasure escaping her mouth. That was the very topic she had been trying to avoid even thinking about for the whole day, hoping that after quickly mentioning it to her friend she wouldn't have to talk about it anymore for at least another century or so.

"I can't believe I got into such a state last night" she finally managed to say, raising her head up only slightly "I'd rather receive a dementor's kiss than facing James in class tomorrow. Oh, Nat, please throw me in Azkaban and let me rot there"

Natalia laughed a bit, the conversation serving her as a distraction from her own torments which were still very present in the back of her mind.

"He's Potter. He won't embarrass you, I think"

"He's still going to remember! I am going to remember. And what's even worse, the people around us will probably remember too"

"Aw, Jane, I'm sure everyone else was too drunk to even notice or recognize who you were. Stop giving yourself a harsh time, besides I—

And she was unable to finish that sentence because when she looked up she saw the very same person she had been trying to get out of her head for the whole day; the boy who she had given her first kiss to, at the Herbology classroom; the boy who she had learned to despise to later be having strange feelings for. And he was looking at her too.

"Prongs look who's there" Peter shouted, clearly amused, a bit louder than he should have.

James was left with no other option but to tell his friends about the whole Jane incident. There was no point lying to them since they would all soon find out one way or another, a lot of people had been around them the night of the party. He had said nothing about the kiss attempt; he thought it was way too private and that Jane wouldn't appreciate him telling people about it. He didn't want them to make Jane feel uncomfortable, since despite all that had happened, she was still his friend and he was still somehow of a gentleman.

After what happened James had tried to find Yaxley so she could take the other Slytherin to their common room but was unable to do so, since there seemed to be no trace of Natalia anywhere. He looked after the other two girls from the snake's house but he was informed they had left several minutes ago, too bored to stay. He was left with no other option than walking the girl by himself with her poor guidance, of course; good thing was that he already had an idea of where the common room was, thanks to the map; too bad he had never tried to go there by his own means.

On his way there, he noticed how several people were looking at them and whispering things to their friends as they passed, not that he cared. As his mother said, ' _Gossip, as usual, is one-third right and two-thirds wrong_ " so they could talk all they wanted.

Then the very next morning, Frank told him that his girlfriend, Alice, told him that Lily had noticed too and she had shown interest on that. He really didn't know how to feel about that kind of information. For once, Lily had been interested in something that concerned him without him having anything to do with it; she had been asking things about him, for Merlin's beard! But then again, what if she thought he was really involved with Jane? Then all his chances were screwed.

"Don't stare, Wormtail. You'll make her uncomfortable" Remus reprimanded him.

Peter obeyed but both Sirius and James couldn't help to keep staring at the pair of girls. Since they were facing at Jane's back James knew she couldn't see them but it was another whole story with Yaxley, who had clearly noticed the sets of eyes over her, making her cheeks go slightly pink.

Thinking about what Remus had just said, James looked away, ready to walk to the closest table so they could all order and so the rest of his friends followed him; all, except for Sirius who stood there motionless, his eyes stuck on the blonde. He, unlike James, had not told anyone about what he did with the other Slytherin.

Both purebloods, the Slytherin and the Gryffindor, were in fact staring so intensely that Jane had to turn her head to see what on earth had caught her friend's attention in such a way, but the minute she noticed James was in the room too, her entire pale face went bright red and she had to turn her eyes back to the front.

Sirius was the first one to break the staring contest, making the girl look down while she began playing with the ends of her hair, which funny enough she seemed to find incredibly interesting at the moment.

"What happened?" Jane frowned

"Nothing" she rushed to answer "Come on, finish up your drink. It's nearly full, Jane. I want to buy sweets"

"I don't feel so hungry… I think I'll be sick again"

Natalia rolled her eyes, divided between her annoyance at Jane being so oblivious about the fact that Natalia was actually hiding something so big and at the same time relieved that she actually hasn't noticed. She knew she couldn't keep the secret a secret forever, and she neither wanted to, Jane was her best friend and deserved to know, she just wasn't ready yet. How was she even supposed to explain it to someone when she couldn't even explain it to herself?

"Whatever. I'll go to the loo and when I come back we leave"

Meanwhile, a few tables away from them they boys were trying to decide what to order. James was already back into his normal self, listening to Remus' story with full attention. He was telling them something about this first year he had given detention to a few days ago and who did something hilarious; both, Jane's incident and Lily's questions long forgotten for the moment as he waited for his usual order. The black haired boy however wasn't as lucky, for his mind was still set on the very same thing he had been thinking ever since the party.

"Oi, Padfoot!" James called, throwing a napkin to his friend

"Huh?"

"We asked if you wanted a butterbeer as well" James said with a frown "Are you alright? You've been off ever since last night."

"James' right. Do you want to talk about it or —

"I'm aright, really… just… have some stuff on my mind right now"

Remus nodded

"Is it Marlene?"

"I told you she looked upset this morning!" Peter exclaimed quite happily, as if please to be right for once about something.

Sirius denied with his head, ignoring Peter's tone which on some other times would've surely infuriated him. To be quite honest with himself, the blonde Gryffindor was the last person on his mind. Then, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to meet with her again after he took off with Yaxley. He left out a groan while burying his head under his arms, just what he needed, more girl drama.

"Just get me a butterbeer" he muttered and it took his friends a couple of seconds to figure out what he had tried to say since his mouth was covered by his sweater.

It was only when he saw Natalia Yaxley stand up and head down to the toilets that he did the second most stupid thing he could've done in a period of two days. Without even thinking about it, about the kind of consequences it could produce- just as he had done the previous night; he stood up quickly and ignored his friend's odd looks as he walked towards where she had just disappeared into.

He waited for her outside the small aisle in front of the bathrooms. It had occurred to him to follow her inside but the thought soon died off, knowing probably there would be some other girls in there and that they wouldn't be pleased with him being inside; not to mention that they could get very suspicious about the fact he had followed the Slytherin to such a place.

He found himself about to leave multiple times, but the need to talk to her was bigger. He found ill at ease the fact that he actually _needed_ to exchange words with the girl. He had kissed multiple girls during his life; Merlin, he had even had sex with a few of them. The problem was, all those other girls he had kissed and been with, they were all nice witches, and none he had felt the need to feel embarrassed of. Natalia Yaxley? A whole different story. He wouldn't dream of his friends ever finding out about it; he'd rather them believe he was a squib rather than the possibility that he found any interest in a blood supremacist who had in more than one occasion talked badly about many people they knew and cared about; and he also was sure they'd be much more understanding of the first (him being as quib, that was)

The worst part was that he hadn't even been that drunk the previous night, as much as he hated to avow. He did stop and think for a second that the person he was about to kiss was everything he swore to hate; he had simply chosen to ignore it. He realized that the simple thought of even talking to someone like Natalia Yaxley was like telling his mother he would join the one who must not be named's lines to kill muggles and blood traitors; Merlin, he could even see her priggish smile, knowing she had gotten what she wanted one more time. Yet, he hadn't care about nothing of those things he was thinking of now during the previous night.

Almost as bad, he had actually enjoyed it. It was one of the best experiences he had ever had, and that was scary. He had snogged Marlene, the prettiest girl in the castle about a hundred times, yet he was almost certain had never enjoyed any of their snogging sessions as much as the one with the Slytherin witch.

Maybe the reason why he had done such a thing was just because of what she said to him. She had clearly almost confessed she fancied him and to say the truth he wasn't really that much against that idea. Maybe it was the effect those words had on him that helped him realize that he wasn't as repulsed by her personality as much as he thought he was. There was something different about her and he wanted to know what it was. It still didn't make what he did okay. He told himself that perhaps he was just too delighted with the idea of someone who hated the plain idea of him could have any kind of feelings towards him and that was why he did it.

When Natalia Yaxley came out of the restroom, he tried to say something but words wouldn't come out of his mouth, something that had never happened to him when it came to girls. Was he nervous? That was simply ridiculous. He was a Gryffindor and most importantly, he was Sirius Black.

She looked at him for a few seconds and she could notice her cheeks were going red. When she got the feeling that he was about to say an actual word, she left as soon as her legs allowed her to, leaving him speechless and confused.

As old witches say, those rich kids lack of some much in their lives they can't help but to create problems for themselves. And what a big one had Natalia Yaxley and Sirius Black started.

After their encounter at the Three Broomsticks he had tried to talk to her during another two occasions; once of those being at the end of breakfast on Monday; he waited for her outside the great hall but the minute she saw him she dumped her friend and grabbed her brother's arm, who was talking with one of his friends, knowing fully well that Simon Yaxley was at least fifteen centimeters taller and wider than Sirius and that he wouldn't even dream of talking to her with such a boy on the watch. The second time he had tried to catch her attention was during History of Magic, but when their eyes met she simply began writing something down and pretended to pay attention to Mr. Binns' words, something really out of character coming from her or any other student, really.

He knew for a fact that on last period, she would have no other choice but to face him since both had Transfigurations. For once, he was grateful they were partners. He waited for her for several minutes and when she arrived he was most surprised to see her open her mouth as soon as she sat down.

"I think I'd be best if we just forgot that happened"

To say he was confused was a euphemism. He had expected her to ignore him since that was what she had been doing for the whole weekend. He could see she seemed nervous and her words weren't as clear as she usually made herself hear, but he also knew she meant every word judging by the colour on her cheeks.

"Yaxley you-

And he was cut off by Professor McGonagall who began explaining something Natalia tried to pay attention to. For Sirius, the words the elder witch was emitting bounced off his head as soon as they got in, far too distracted to care. Blame it on his last name or the fact that he was a Gryffindor, but he wasn't about to wait for a whole class to end in order to get answers, so he kept talking

"I'm serious. You said some things, I'm sure you remember"

"I don't remember anything" she cut him off sharply, writing something down.

"Yes, you do. You said you probably fancied me and then you kissed me"

" _What_?" Natalia hissed. There was no longer shame in her blue eyes; instead they seemed furious "Are you honestly suggesting that I did it first? If anyone kissed anyone, that was you. And I didn't say I fancied you, I said I wanted to be friends with you but that's over, so forget it"

"No, I remember it pretty well. It was you and I want to know why"

"For Morgana's sake!" she shirked angrily, maybe a little bit too loudly "Stop lying and _you_ tell me why"

"Well, maybe because you told me you had the creeps for me so I didn't want you to be left there feeling like a fool"

"So you do admit you kissed me first"

He was just about to answer but the feeling of another presence right in front of them made him stop himself from doing so. Both teenagers raised their heads slowly to find their Professor right in front of them, looking nothing near of happy. The only thing left to hope for them was that she hadn't heard much of their conversation, because that'd be embarrassing.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Black, Miss. Yaxley, I'm sure your conversation was far more interesting than my lesson so since I'm feeling extremely pleasant today, I shall give you the rest of the afternoon to catch up and finish it." She said with a smile before she turned around back in front of the class, her frown returning as well "5pm. Detention. Don't be late"

Natalia's mouth was of the shape of a perfect " _o_ ". None, Sirius or she could believe how quickly they'd gotten a detention; usually, McGonagall was strict but she'd give one or two warnings before throwing the D word into the party. Apparently just as their weekend, things were not going according to plan.

Professor McGonagall had them in her office making them reorganize every single book in the bookshelf, without magic, while she attended some other duties- it was safe to say that Minerva McGonagall liked to read.

Both teenagers went silent short after the other witch left the room, soon getting to work. Natalia was the first to talk. She held into the book she had just grabbed and wrapped it tight around her arms while facing the boy. She took a sigh before she began to speak.

"I don't want you accusing me of things, Black. If anyone did something to anyone, it must've been you, because there's no way I'd have done anything with you if I was in my right senses and you hadn't started. Maybe you poisoned my drinks and that's why I said the things I said" she raised a brow. Her words sounded confident, much different to how they had in the morning.

Sirius snored and rolled his eyes.

"The only poison you drank on Friday was firewhiskey. Several glasses from what I've heard" he laughed bitterly, all while placing ' _Transformation Through the Ages_ " in one of the shelves quite harshly, no breaking the eye contact "All you said came out from you and that empty head of yours. And do you want to know why? Because It was the truth"

Natalia waved her hands with exasperation, the book still grappled around her fingers as she yelled: "No, it wasn't! Just forget about it already!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. She was behaving just like a little child, and began sounding like one too. He, as an adult, didn't want to have anything to do with children.

"Well, alright. I'll forget what you said about you fancying me" he leered, clearly not planning on letting that go "but I must say, and I'm not proud of it… I liked what happened after" he let out.

He was clearly uncomfortable with making that confession but he felt that since she had been so honest with him during that night, he could at least try to pay back… his own way; he wouldn't be a good Gryffindor if he didn't. Besides, she was the only person she could share that with, since he wasn't planning on telling anyone else, and he hated keeping things inside his head: he just had to let it all out. He also knew that in the supposed case Yaxley decided to tell anyone, he'd deny it and everyone would believe him, not her, for he was the Gryffindor and she was the snake.

If the words that came out of his mouth were difficult for him to say, they were even more difficult for her to understand. She furred her brows and looked as if she wanted to run out of the room from the embarrassment.

"What do you mean? After? You mean like after we… you.. erh"

"Yes, after we snogged"

She flinched when she heard the word.

"Don't call it that" she said on a whisper, arms crossed again and pink cheeks.

Natalia truly felt as she may pass out from embarrassment. She felt so much shame that she almost missed the fact that he said he enjoyed it; _almost_ , after all, she was a girl and Sirius Black was the holder of her first kiss, and he had enjoyed it.

"At least I call it something" he snorted, also crossing his arms "You're acting just like a virgin, you know that?"

Natalia looked down and stood silent, her cheeks burning bright red, no matter how tanned her skin was, there was no way of hiding that. Should she lie? That would only be worse, she supposed, making it seem like a common whore who just went around making out with people.

Sirius's face was the perfect example of perplexity when soon a thought hit him, just as if he had discovered the cure for dragon pox.

"That's because you're a virgin!"

The so characteristic roll of eyes was made; however, as annoyed as it made her that he was talking about such personal things with such liberty, she didn't fail to notice that his voice wasn't mocking her, at least for once; of course that fact didn't make things any better. He seemed clearly surprised.

"So?" Her voice came out on the defensive.

"So you have never done any of these things before? Like what we did or something like that?" his curiosity made her want to puke.

Natalia's face was halfway hidden behind the book she was holding, wishing she had learnt the art of apparition so she could disappear from that situation. She couldn't believe he was asking those kinds of things! Was he oblivious to etiquette, to basic human behavior? Didn't his mother teach him anything about things like those? Were boys oblivious to girl's minds? She was going to be sick.

"That is none of your business! She squeaked.

"Well, did you enjoy it?" a cocky smile came with the question.

 _That was it_. She was going to pass out. She wondered if the red on her cheeks was showing or not, because since she had quite a tan skin sometimes it didn't; yes, she liked her skin very much… it was smooth and it went really dark as soon as it touched the sun and it was a nice mix between her parent's skin tones and people complimented on that and said-

"So?" the cocky smile was gone now, curiosity had taken power of Sirius Black's face again. Like the egocentrical pig he was, she guessed he needed the reassurance of being a good kisser; not that she was going to give it to him.

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I did" he said bluntly, not a trace of cockiness left on his face, which was a lot to say considering that was one of his main attributes "And I have never been with a girl who doesn't enjoy it so I want to make sure you're not the exception"

So he was lying. He truly was curious about the fact and he really wanted to know if she had enjoyed as much as he had, but he wasn't about to let that out, he wasn't Remus or James, for Merlin's sake, that'd be embarrassing. Maybe he was making an arse of himself by pressing her like that just for his own sake, maybe he was even being an arse to himself because he knew well enough he didn't want anything to do with the girl standing in front of him, but he _really_ wanted to know.

"You did that to other girl _s_? How many?" did it sound like she didn't care? She hoped she did. Because she really didn't care, really, believe her.

"A few"

And it was the truth. He had made out with a good amount of witches; not thousands as most people seemed to believe and pass as gossip, but a good handle. Ever since fourth year girls just seemed to be really attracted to him and who was him to deny them what they wanted? They were a fun way of pass time when he was bored or worried about something. However, true or not, he regretted saying it the minute he did. Soon he could see how her eyes went really wide…. Just as if she wanted to… do that thing so many girls and kids and even some boys liked to do when they were extremely upset about something.

"So it was just kind of like a procedure for you, wasn't it? Just another witch on the list, am I right? And now because of that I've lost every ounce of self-respect I had."

Sirius rolled his eyes, she truly was being dramatic. Really, if he had ever put on doubt her title as the castle's drama queen, he took it back; she had earned that name and made it justice.

However, it was too late now to smooth the truth. Besides, she may be hurt at the moment, but in reality he was just doing her a favor. He knew how girls got when they liked boys, too many witches had experienced that feeling before; if there was a minimal chance she thought he had feelings for her, she'd go nuts and then as soon as she realized he didn't, she'd get all cry baby like. He was simply helping her and helping himself, because a small part of his brain told him to be careful with her since she probably meant for him a little bit more than what he was willing to admit; not that he cared for her, or loved her, but after all those last weeks, he started to see her as a person and not just a death eater's spawn.

"Come on, stop slut shamming yourself. We're in the 20th century. Is not like we had sex or something" he pointed.

"So what!? I still did something bad and that's just so disrespectful to my future husband. I was supposed to save my first kiss to someone who loved me" she complained.

Sirius left out a laugh.

"Is that what worries you? Really? You don't even have to get married, you knew that? It's called being independent and-

"Are you kidding me?" she asked coolly.

He didn't answer, soon realizing he was being naïve. Sirius truly believed the words he had just spoken, a witch had every right to live life by herself, but he knew well enough that such a mindset was only a product of all his years at Gryffindor and of spending a large amount of time with people such as the Potters. He knew that to Natalia Yaxley what he said meant nothing, just as it would be to any other pureblood witch who held the title proudly.

In the perfect pureblood society, witches were meant to get married almost as soon as they got out of Hogwarts and have healthy, chubby and perfect children who would one day carry on with the family's name and fortune. It was like it was and it wouldn't change for any of them, just as it hadn't changed for anyone else before in their circle. You either adjusted to the rules or you got blurred out, and witches like Natalia knew no other way.

"Oh, come on, Yaxley. Don't be dramatic. It's not as if you lost your virginity to me or something, I'm sure your future husband will understand" he rested importance to it, not willing to admit that maybe he should be more understanding of her feelings.

Then, out of the sudden, she began sniffing. Sirius began to panic. He hated seeing girls cry, or anyone for the matter, and he tended to walk away on situations like those, but since they were in detention and the doors were closed, he was there for good, liked it or not.

"Come on, Yaxley. Don't cry"

"Shut up!" she squeaked, covering her face with her fist on an attempt to prevent some of the tears from falling to the ground.

"Why are you being such a baby about this? It was just a few kisses! I enjoyed, you enjoyed it. It probably won't ever happen again"

If that sentence was meant to quiet her down, it did exactly the opposite, getting her straight up, and tossing two big books that were aimed to his face and he managed to avoid, thanks Merlin to Quidditch training. He was just as surprised as the day she had hexed him, if only more.

Tears were falling off her eyes like waterfalls.

His words were not meant to make her more upset than she already was, he just really wanted her to stop crying and he thought maybe it was the right thing to say. He'd never really had to deal with anything like that; he supposed Marlene cried only with her friends about him, but not in front of him; he didn't have any sisters; if his cousins did consider crying, it was purely about silly things, such as dolls and make up and when that happened he tended to hide away in another room until they calmed down.

" _Are you bloody insane_?"

But she didn't answer. There were still tears coming down her cheeks but she didn't look sad or embarrassed at all anymore, she looked rather furious. With fierceness, she kept on cleaning the shelves and didn't speak a word to Sirius for the rest of the day. He guessed telling her he regretted what they did wouldn't make things better, so he kept quiet as well, occasionally throwing some looks over to check she hadn't started crying again; relieved when he realized she wasn't.

When Minerva McGonagall walked back into her study and told the students they were allowed to leave both of them walked heading different ways and didn't say a word to each other. Sirius was too confused by the way she had reacted to what he thought were simple statements and also the things he had discovered about her too. Once again, although not happy about it, Natalia Yaxley seemed to keep surprising him. On the other hand, the Slytherin could had hexed anyone who dared to say 'hi' to her on her way to her common room.

It was nearly 10pm and Natalia Yaxley was sobbing through Hogwarts's corridors. She truly couldn't help it. She had put on her best smile while in front of her brother and friends and excused herself for dinner saying she had to give Matilda a bath (which of course wasn't true as her cat got baths every two Wednesdays by the elves) but as night came, she couldn't help but to let her real feelings come out. The way she saw it, she hadn't only made a fool of herself while confessing her feelings to Sirius Black without getting a response but she had also had basically told she was one of the many girls he had done that with; she knew it was foolish to think she could be the only one in a boy's like that life, but she was still a girl and had feelings and believed herself to have the right to feel special when it came to boys. Not to mention she felt bad, as much as Sirius tried to play it off as nothing, they weren't just kisses for her; it was her first kiss! And they were really intense. On top of that, she wondered if any boy would get to love her someday, because she had no proof of anyone loving her that way in real life.

She was far too focused on wiping the tears off her face and keeping her nose somehow clean to notice that tall prefect standing right at the end of the hallway she was passing.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice asked.

Natalia lift up her head only to see one of Black's dearest friend standing right in front of her. It was the silent boy, Remus Lupin. He couldn't help but notice how red and puffy her eyes were and she couldn't help but notice that he actually sounded concerned; surprising, coming from a boy.

"I-I was just—"

"It's alright. You don't worry about it just now" he assured, knowing she meant to make an excuse about why she was out of bed passed curfew "but I have to know if you're alright"

He kept his distance, wary. He knew she was a Slytherin and by the few things Sirius had told him about the girl and her family, he also knew the kind of Slytherin she was, the only type he knew there existed: purist, a bully and a brat, and more importantly, they didn't like people like him. Still, she was crying, he couldn't just walk away.

She sniffed a few more times and then nodded, realizing he was waiting for an answer, not looking at him in the eyes. Hadn't she suffered enough? Now a Gryffindor had to see her cry? A friend of his, out of all the people in the castle. It seemed as if Salazar Slytherin just wanted to see her suffer for daring to make out with someone who could potentially become a blood traitor. If her mother could see her then, crying in front of that boy, outside her chambers for the world to see, she probably wouldn't recognize her as her daughter at all.

"Are you sure? You look upset"

She glared at him with annoyance. It was confirmed, boys were thick.

"Well, of course I look upset. I am upset. I'm crying!" she snapped "For Merlin's sake…"

Just looking at the boy told her she could've probably handled that a little bit better. After all, dumb or not, he was showing concern and Morgana knew she needed some of that.

" _Sorry_ " she then said softly a couple minutes later, looking down and hugging one of her arms.

"It's alright. That… that was a stupid thing of me to say"

A small smile appeared on her face. The boy in front of her was being really awkward about the whole situation, sounding nervous and everything and that gave her a distraction from her dilemma. He also said he was sorry, and she knew well enough boys didn't like saying sorry and admitting they were in wrong, let alone to a girl; even when her brothers or father realized they were at fault at something they preferred giving her presents instead of properly apologizing.

She waited for a little bit before she spoke again, wanting to make sure her voice wouldn't crack halfway through her sentence because that would add another ounce of embarrassment and she wasn't sure she could take it. However, she did want to talk to him, because he sounded nice and sincere.

"I was looking for an elf. When I'm sad, the only thing that makes me feel better is ice cream. And chocolates, but I already finished all of mine and my friend doesn't have any" she explained.

Remus was confused, not knowing what to answer to that. Why wasn't she insulting him?

"Well, you-you shouldn't be out of bed" he said rather quickly, a hand passing through the back of his head even if he didn't feel an itch "It's really late. I won't give you detention or take points off but you have to go back to bed"

"But I want Ice cream! I'm really upset"

She looked at him with pleading eyes. As her papa said, " _always look them in the eye_ " She also noticed how his eyes were green, a really soft hue of it, that was; she liked green eyes, they were rare, unlike blue ones.

He seemed nervous. He was not only interacting with a girl other than one of his friends, something he rarely did, but he was interacting with a Slytherin blood supremacist out of any other. He had no experience with Natalia's kind; he always got away from the teasing of other Slytherins, unlike people like Lily Evans, because he was a prefect and a half blood. That was without doubt the closest he had ever gotten to interact with someone like her outside class.

"Uh… I"

"Well, can you help me get some?" she smiled sweetly.

It was a weird smile, especially considering her eyes were still puffy and her tiny curls were all over the place, only held on a bun. Truth was she wasn't even thinking about the whole snogging encounter or the fact that she had left her heart out with Sirus that night for him only to tell her he had done that too many times and she wasn't that extraordinary. She was amused by Remus Lupin and by the fact he was being so genuinely nice to her; she wanted to push him and see how much nicer he could be.

"You must know where the elves hide, now, don't you?"

Remus knew well enough that he had been kind enough, that she was out of bed when she shouldn't and that she was a Slytherin. There would be nothing unethical or wrong about making her go back to her common room right there, but her sobbing and blonde hair reminded him of his sick mother, and he missed his mother.

He sighed.

"If I took you to the kitchens, will you feel better?"

Natalia's smile went wide, so did her eyes.

"Ooooh, you know where the kitchens are? How'd you do that? Is that a kind of prefect thing they tell you when you get the title?"

He smiled, actually surprised she had a sense of humour and they both began walking consequently.

"No, it's just a secret of mine."

"And you're sharing it with me? Do you think that's wise?"

"Not really. But you seriously need to get to bed and you won't do that without your ice cream, now would you?"

She smiled, sensing he was getting comfortable with her presence. Not many people did that. People who interacted with her either felt annoyed or uncomfortable, but rarely at ease if they weren't family or very close friends.

"How'd you guess that?" they shared a smile.

They walked in somewhat of a comfortable silence to the kitchens. Unconsciously she was analyzing the boy standing next to her, because she had never done it before. Why? She didn't know, she guessed she never really paid attention to him because he was always so silent and tended to go undercover when next to his loud and obnoxious friends, but right there, she realized there was plenty of Remus Lupin to pay attention to. She thought about how big the bags under his eyes were and how he had some little scars on his face and she wondered how he had gotten those and if there was an interesting story behind it or not. He was indeed a really interesting character and she found herself wanting to explore more of him.

Remus, instead, was thinking about how unlike him what he was doing was. He was reserved, he didn't spend time alone with girls and he would never dare cross words with Natalia Yaxley or any of the people she frequented and yet there he was, showing her around Hogwarts and paying her favors that involved ice cream.

"Here we are"

"Ah yes! Next to Huffepuff's common room. Lucky them, right?"

He snickered upon seeing her expression. Her blue eyes were wide in excitement and she turned on her feet trying to catch every single aspect of the kitchen, having really never been inside there. He could sense she had a curious personality and he liked that; he admired curious people, like James or Sirius, since he didn't allow himself to feel free enough to be curious.

Soon, an elf was standing in front of them, eager to serve all of their wishes, jumping up and down and telling them how delighted he was for their visit. The praising was working wonders on Natalia's soon recovering mood.

"I'd like some ice cream. Vainilla" she said while sitting on a table.

Remus followed her example.

"I'd have some strawberry, please" he smiled kindly to the elf.

The little creature flicked it's fingers and soon enough two big cups full of ice cream were in front of the teenagers. Remus muttered a quick " _thank you_ " and both of them began eating.

Natalia had a smile full of pleasure and her eyes were closed for several minutes after she managed to get a spoonful of ice cream inside her mouth, getting some on the corners of her lips. Remus took the time to inspect the witch's face and found she had chubby cheeks and the tip of her nose was a lot bigger than the rest of it, making it look a little funny; her lips were pink and not too full and somehow her skin managed to look quite tan in late November, and of course, he also caught up on the fact that she had gotten ice cream over her face.

She opened her blue eyes and was surprised to find him staring right at her while slowly eating his own ice cream. She suddenly felt very self-conscious; she knew her eyes were still looking red and that she had not brushed her hair so it probably looked way too curly and bushy. She also knew that sometimes she was a messy eater, and she could kind of feel the vanilla around her mouth so she quickly tried to lick it off, regretting doing it just after. What was wrong with her? All those years of etiquette lessons and that's how she behaved? Once again, if only her mother could see her.

He realized that she noticed about his attention and didn't waste time to turn his view towards something else around the kitchen, running one of his hands over his neck. His cheeks were slightly pink and that made a shy smile appear on Natalia's face. " _If a boy flushes in front of you, that means he likes you or that you said something so embarrassing that he thinks you're a troll_ " Emily Abbott told them once when she was staying over. Well, Natalia sure thing hadn't said a thing, so it only left one option. That made her smile.

"Is strawberry your favourite flavor?" she asked, a new gained confidence on her voice which the boy was surprised to find.

He frowned, that was a question no one ever had asked him. He wasn't even sure he had a favourite flavor. He didn't even know people like her could talk about such mundane topics like regular witches and wizards; as silly as it sounded he truly thought people like Natalia Yaxley spent their days talking about galleons and plotting on the destruction of the muggle community.

"Uhm... I'm not sure"

She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Well, if you had to choose an ice cream flavor to eat your whole life, would it be Strawberry?"

"Probably"

"Then the answer is yes"

"And is vanilla yours?"

"Yes. When I was little I couldn't decide if I loved vanilla or chocolate more but now I know. Chocolate's too messy and it stains too much"

He chuckled.

"It's true! Have you tried eating chocolate ice cream in summer? I always end up looking like a baby kreshor not to mention my dresses get stained"

They were both chuckling quietly after that, enjoying their ice creams and the somehow natural conversation. Natalia was moving her legs back and forwards freely since the table they were sitting on was quite tall, especially for her; by accident she kicked the Gryffindor's leg; upon doing that, she feared he may get all embarrassed again and try to leave, but instead he gave a little sheepish smile and kicked her back playfully and then was when she began wondering...

"Are you feeling okay now?" he had asked while giving up eating the rest of his ice cream.

"Yeah, thank you" she smiled, her vanilla coming to an end too "What was bothering me it's mostly out of my head now. Thank you very much" she said looking at the cup on her hand and doing circles with the spoon with was left of the vainilla.

Remus chuckled and got off the table as she followed with a crooked smile on her face which he noticed. She put the last big spoonful of ice cream inside her mouth before she settled the cup down.

"So, was the ice cream good enough for you to let me get away without points being taken?" she asked with a smile, facing him as she walked right in front of him, beating her eyelashes repeatedly.

Of course she knew he wouldn't take points. He liked her. She was just being playful.

Remus chuckled and nodded. That was really unlike him.

"I suppose. I can't find you prowling around the castle this late anymore tho; if you do I'll have to take points."

"Don't worry, you won't find me" she winked.

He snorted lightly and smiled.

"Don't twist my words"

"I'm twisting my own"

They both smiled at each other and kept walking in silence until they reached the place where they would both have to set apart.

"Are you okay going to your common room by yourself? I'm quite late already; my ship should've finished about half an hour ago"

She nodded.

"Yes. Besides, you can't really know where my common room is. In case you haven't notice, we snakes keep it a secret"

He nodded while wearing a small smile on his face. Remus did in fact know where her common room was since he had studied it very well because of the map, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Are you sure you'll be okay going by yourself?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, father"

He smiled again and both of them gave each other a final goodbye nod before they began walking opposite ways.

As she made her way towards her common room she got a interesting theory come to her. To every step she took, she tried to walk faster, her need to tell someone about what was going on her head was killing her. She made it to the dungeons on half the time it would normally take her and when she got into her chambers she aimed immediately towards her best friend's bed, jumping on it, waking the taller witch up on the process.

"Janey" she whispered.

Jane Abbott opened her eyes slowly, noticing the extra weight over herself and her bed.

"Natalia? What're you doing here? What time is it?" she said lazily, her voice raspy while she rubbed her eyes with her fits.

" _Oh Jane_ " the witch let a sight escape her mouth, while resting her head over the other's chest, looking up towards the non-visible sky, wishing she was able to get a glance of the stars "I think I fancy Remus Lupin"


	9. chapter 9

**Don't own Harry Potter.**

 _A little bit of love and joy_

 _Everything you do bears a will_

 _And a why and a wherefore_

 _A little bit of love and joy_

 _In each and every soul lies a man_

 _And very soon he'll deceive and discover_

 _But even to the end of his life_

 _He'll bring a little love_

 _Tuesday. October, 26. 1976_

Two Slytherins were trying to be secretive about the fact that they were both staring intensively at a particular Gryffindor boy, succeeding at it because no one from their house really paid that much attention to them when they were together anyway. Jane was frowning as if trying to solve a really difficult potions exam whereas her friend held a small smile on her face, almost invisible but still there.

"So you've decided you fancy him just like that?" the witch asked, incredulous "After half an hour? Wow"

Natalia rolled her eyes, withdrawing her attention from the lion and giving it to the girl who was just in front of her with a plate full of fruit she hadn't really touched yet.

"Well of course I don't faaaancy him. I just fancy him a little. Like when you light a caldrum; it's just warm now, but I know deep down if we spend more time together, I'll fancy him a lot" she explained " _I could even love him_! My caldrum would boil" she broke a smile. "And it was more than half an hour; about 40 minutes or so, so get your facts straight, Jane."

The taller witch denied with her head realizing by Natalia's dreamy-ish voice that she would not be willing to listen to her therefor there wasn't a point in keep trying to get her into her senses. She knew how the shortest witch always got when she wanted something, and it seemed she had set her mind into Remus Lupin of all people. All she could do then was wait until she got bored.

"Isn't he like a half blood or something?"

"I'm sure he's not. Look, you can see it on his face" she pointed with her chin towards the oblivious boy, making Jane turn her face to study him once again "He looks like a pureblood, I call it; those cheekbones? Muggles don't have them like that"

"He does not"

"Uhm, yes he does. And besides, even if he was a half-blood I'm not planning on marrying him or anything, unless I really loved him a lot which wouldn't happen if he was a half-blood because, uh, duh, I'd notice. I just fancy him and I think he fancies me back, that's all. No need to make a big deal out of it"

"You're the one making a big deal out of it! And again, you got all these conclusions from him blushing once when he was with you" her voice resembled the one of an adult talking to a little child "You know he could just be really shy, right? Which he is"

"Oh, stop it Janey! Don't rain on my parade. Remember what your sister told us about the blushing" She explained while giving her waffle a big bite, as if the words of Emily Abbott were scientific statements "He's just a really adorable boy and you're a being mean"

Jane opened her mouth in order to defend her but the arrival of Simon Yaxley and Hippolytus Lestrange made her shut it again. Both sixth years took the seats next to the girls, the Yaxley siblings sitting on the same side of the table, as they usually did, because that made it easier for them to pick on each other's food. Both boys seemed to be laughing at something and they smiled politely to the pair of girlfriends as they sat, giving them a casual nod which they returned with a smile.

"I see you're in a good mood, little sister"

Natalia stuck her tongue out to him on a childish way.

"I'm not your little sister, we're equals"

"Not according to mother"

"Cut it." She said quickly, gaining a snicker from Hippolytus as he served himself some fruit "and Indeed I am on a good mood, so don't ruin it for me, thank you very much" she sang happily

"Can I know why? You've been acting strange and very gloomy the last few days"

Both Jane and Hippolytus nodded in agreement. Who could blame Jane? She felt curious about the problem and she usually didn't have to wait that long for Natalia to tell her about what bugged her.

"That' right. You didn't even want to try dresses for Halloween last Sunday!" her best friend whined "Remember? You just got your candy and we came back to the castle"

"Yes and-

Just as Hippolytus was about to say something, she interrupted him: "Stop it, the three of you. I had some bad days, like you all do. Now let me enjoy the rest of my breakfast"

Her brother continued to talk to her but something else caught her eye, so whatever he was saying she didn't hear it. Remus Lupin along with all his friends were leaving and she knew it was the perfect chance to go and try to talk to him; she was excited to do it and had been waiting ever since the other night when she first talked to him. She knew that simple act that was about to take place would not only look natural but also would reinforce their mutual liking of each other, she had it all planned.

"Jane, we're leaving" she said quickly, cutting her brother off.

Simon looked pissed and ready to complain but the girls didn't hear half of it since they were already gone, arm on arm, their plates left behind still halfway full.

Quickly they walked towards the big doors. Jane understood what was going on the minute she saw the group of marauders; she was about to complain but she shut her mouth the minute she saw James Potter. That was about to be the second time they'd see each other after the whole incident happened and she was still feeling self-conscious about the fact that she had puked over his shoes, despite the boy's assurance of not worry about it.

Natalia gave a great performance while pretending to bump into Remus without knowing he was there; ha, and some people in the castle dared to say she didn't have talent! When he raised his head to see who had crashed against him he was surprised to see her. They had never talked in all their Hogwarts years and in the last two days it seemed like they were finding each other in every corner.

Immediately, Natalia smiled widely.

"Oh, hi Remus" she greeted him cheerfully, ignoring the rest of the group.

The sandy haired boy blinked twice in order to make sure it was really happening. He had had fun the previous night, and he had decided he wasn't going to lie to himself about that for he found nothing wrong in it. He had discovered Natalia Yaxley was actually a funny girl who had her own problems just as everybody else and that she wasn't just pure evil. The thought of spending time alone with her didn't scare him anymore, quite the opposite really, but despite all that, he had convinced himself that although being a surprisingly easy going witch, their short friendship was a onetime thing. He supposed she would ignore him in classes and the castle in general, as she did for the previous six years, but there she was, calling him by his first name and smiling at him, proving him wrong.

The rest of the boys were just as shocked.

James gave both of the teenagers an odd look before slowly driving his eyes towards Jane which with whom after a few minutes began an animated chat, both their minds far away from the rest of the people around them, as usual. He had feared before that things with her would be different after Saturday, but after their short chat at class pretending he didn't remember a thing besides the puking made things back to their natural state.

Peter's eyes were wide with fear; if there were two things the chubby boy feared the most out of all the things he was scared of they sure would be girls and Slytherins, in that exact same order. He was also surprised she was talking to Remus since he had never mentioned to him that they were acquaintances; he supposed once again he hadn't been informed. He _hated_ feeling left out.

Above all, Sirius was the most surprised of the four. For once he had not planned on talking to Natalia Yaxley for a very long time thanks to her meltdown the previous day which he knew he probably could've handled the situation a lot better, but crying girls made him nervous and after all, the whole making out thing was just as traumatic for him as it was for her since it had left him questioning many things.

Sirius was in fact so taken aback by her just being near him on a good mood without crying or throwing books at him that he almost missed the fact that she addressed Remus and only Remus as if they were longtime friends. He raised a brow with suspicion and watched the reaction from his friend, hoping he'd be as confused as he was.

What he noticed instead, was surprise at first but then he was the one almost left with his mouth wide-open by the fact that Remus actually smiled at her; not a nervous smile, or anything like it, a genuine one, which very few people in Hogwarts could get from him.

"Hey, how're you feeling?"

She smiled pleased, as if something was being proved to her. She eyed Jane, but the other witch was kilometers away from their conversation.

"I'm feeling great. The vanilla really helped" she answered and he smiled, happy to hear that. It seemed that both shared a kind of complicity none of the other wizards near them were part of "What class do you have now?"

"Eh, I've got care of magical creatures with the Ravenclaws. Why?"

"Just asking" She shrugged, as if it was the most innocent and natural thing in the world "And who's your partner?" She let out casually

"That'd be me" Sirius said suddenly, slightly annoyed that he was being ignored by everyone in the small circle, even Peter.

Natalia rolled her eyes, resting her eyes on Sirius sloppily for a few seconds to then give her attention back fully to Remus. The dark haired boy's jaw clenched, not used to being ignored; even when dealing with Slytherins and blood supremacists he still got their interest some way or another.

"Well, we ourselves have a class to attend as well" she began while yanking Jane's arm, who barely noticed and kept on talking with James "so I'll see you later I guess"

"I guess we will"

Natalia smiled and Remus smiled, James and Jane said their goodbyes with equal smiles, Peter looked uncomfortable and Sirius was left moody. What a nice encounter!

As soon as the Slytherins left the marauders began walking towards their class. All three pairs of eyes focused on Remus who was trying to quicken up his steps to get away from the questioning from his friends, which he was sure would come sooner than later. Not that he had anything to hide, but he assumed what their reactions would be like and he didn't want to deal with them so early in the morning.

"I didn't know you were friends with Yaxley, Moony" James let out casually.

"Yeah I didn't either" Sirius muttered, suspicion filled his voice.

Peter just nodded eagerly, his own way of asking for an explanation. He was glad he wasn't the only one who was unaware of that condition.

"We're not friends" Remus answered simply "We barely know each other"

"Then why is she calling you Remus and smiling at you while you get all red and nervous?" The guy with the glasses inquired with a playful smirk on his lips, clearly teasing him.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"I'm not getting nervous; I was just acting like I do everyday"

"Um, not so sure about that" the boy replied "but still, even if you were, she's still called you Remus and she was being sort of nice and I've never seen her being nice to anyone, not even Jane, really"

"Yeah and what's the whole "vanilla" deal?" Sirius asked quickly.

Remus sighed.

"It's nothing really. Last night she was upset and looking for ice cream and she couldn't find any elves so I took her to the kitchens and we had some"

James Potter stopped walking, a big teasing smile on his face, making the other three stop as well. All eyes were on Remus, who being Remus felt uncomfortable upon the intense attention he was getting, not being natural to him. If he hadn't known it would only be worse to him, he'd have liked to keep walking.

"You had _ice cream_? With _Natalia Yaxley_?" James mocked and laughed, causing Peter to do the same. He didn't intent to make his friend feel bad about it, he simply found it hilarious. Sweet, shy, nice Remus Lupin grabbing a bite with his complete opposite felt indeed like a funny story to hear.

Remus's cheeks suddenly went pink and he kept walking, once again trying to avoid the rest of the marauders. James soon was next to him, thanks to his reflexes, his smile never leaving his face, mischief clear in his eyes.

"She's a Slytherin, mate" Sirius said from behind, not finding the situation amusing on the least. If anything, it was utterly serious and needed to be taking cared of immediately.

"True, she's scary" Peter nodded.

Remus shook his head, slowing down so the other two could see him.

"Not really. She's just really different from the girls from other houses and we tend to perceive this as scary or something like that just because it's foreigner to most of us, that's all. She's actually nice and fun"

He let out the last sentence quickly, hoping his friends wouldn't hang up on that but knowing that probably wouldn't be the case. He knew they'd mock him from what he said but he felt the need to portray her just as he had seen her the previous night. He detested when people made assumptions about him, so why should he let his friends do the same to a girl who had been nothing but overly nice and friendly?

James's mouth seemed about to fall and Sirius's face about to be boiling with incredulity and annoyance since Remus was just sort of voicing what he had realized weeks ago. Yes, Sirius Black didn't think as badly of Natalia as he used to do before their sixth year; to be honest, once you got to know her you realized the real problem with Natalia was she got too much her own way and had a disposition to think quite highly of herself, and of course, the fact that she didn't see anything bad about the things mentioned, but that was a story for another time. But of course the Black boy was no way going to admit that, but having another person like him do it bothered him greatly.

"Natalia Yaxley is by no means 'nice and fun'. Alice Bingley is a nice and fun girl; Marlene is a nice and fun girl"

The sandy haired boy rolled his eyes.

"All I'm saying is that sometimes we misjudge people badly and I think she's just the perfect example"

"I'm not misjudging anything. I've known her for _years,_ Remus. We played together as babies and she used to bite and take my toys." Sirius added.

"As amusing as this whole situation is I must say that you should be careful, Moony" James said with full honesty "You could be right, but my father has heard some stories about the Yaxleys. They're followers of you know who"

Remus rolled his eyes once again. He felt the strange need of defending her because it was the right thing to do and what he would've done for anyone.

"That doesn't mean anything, James. Our parents don't dictate who we are as a person." He shrugged "Truth is, I've always thought she was a bad person but in reality I've never seen her do anything bad. Have you?"

James looks confused.

"I-I guess not _too_ bad but—

"Exactly"

"Why are you defending her?" Sirius asked annoyed, tired of trying to get him to see things as they were.

"I'm not defending her, Sirius. As I've already said, I barely know her; I'm just saying maybe we misjudged her."

"And she's friends with Jane. Jane's a nice girl. Maybe that means something" James added his voice sounding more secure about his opinion as he went on.

"Maybe" Remus agreed.

Sirius just rolled his eyes.

"I'd stay away if I were you" he said and quickened his steps as well. He was only protecting his friend.

"So, what do you think?" Natalia asked as they entered their History of Magic class.

They were extra early that day being the first ones to arrive even before all the nerdy Hufflepuffs. They sat at their usual place and Natalia couldn't help but to smile.

"I think your parents wouldn't be happy if they knew you fancy someone who's name's not illustrated on the sacred 28" Jane tried to disguise her words with humour, but what she said wasn't far from the truth at all and that made Natalia roll her eyes.

"It's not like I'm going to marry him, Jane. For Merlin's sake!" She cried "He's cute. Admit it. His eyes are really pretty and green; you know how much I love green eyes" her chin rested on her palm, a dreamy look on her eyes.

The taller witch dilly dallied.

"I suppose" she shrugged "but he's always so quiet! And he looks kind of sick"

Natalia smiled widely

"And that's exactly how I like my boys; green eyes and looking like they're about to drop dead" she said, a cheeky smile on her face, indicating she was joking "Anyway, what's the whole deal with you and Potter, are you like not super embarrassed anymore?" 

"Ugh yes! But he's been so sweet and nice to me, like nothing actually happened. He didn't even bring it up yesterday, I did and he assured me that it was alright and then began talking about something else so I guess he doesn't remember about most of it. I was so worried and it was all for nothing!" she laughed nervously.

"Well, I'm glad Potter finally decided not to be a knob"

Jane rolled her eyes.

"He's never a knob. At least not with me" 

"So do you think he could fancy you?"

"I'm not nearly as dreamy and hopeful as you are" Jane smiled, sadness visible upon her brown eyes "I think he's just a nice boy who sees me as his good friend"

"Oh, Janey… but you two could be so much more! Imagine it, Jane Potter" the smaller witch gestured with both her hands, as if she was showing her the headline of the prophet. Jane's cheeks went slightly pink, because she had indeed, imagined that scenario many times before.

"But you said he was almost a blood traitor…" 

"Yeah but I changed my mind. As you pointed out before, he needs a push on the right direction, as many others do, right?"

"The _pure_ direction"

"Exactly! So I say, why should we let another bloodline go to waste if we can avoid it, right? That's what my aunt Sylviana always says"

"Right…"

"And besides, if you end up spending more time with Potter, that means I get to spend more time with Remus. Aaaand if we're both hanging out with best friends, that means we don't have to split our time between best friend and boys" 

"Oh, Merlin! You're talking so much nonsense right now" Jane giggled soon realizing Natalia's deeper intentions. 

"But I'm right, Janey! Come on, next lesson you make plans with Potter to study or something and tell him Remus can tag along and then I'll tag along."

"I don't know, Nat…"

"Pleeeeasee, Janey. I know you want to. Pretty, pretty please. Don't be mean. I'm asking nicely"

Jane bit her lip thoughtfully, not wanting to give in that quickly because that'd set a precedent but… it really seemed like a good idea and she wanted to spend more time with James.

"Ugh, fine!"

Natalia giggled and hugged her best friend right before some more students got inside the classroom. Just once again, she had gotten what she wanted; things were back at how they were supposed to be, without dark haired rebels who made her question things she shouldn't even be thinking about.

Jane just sighed. By just looking at Remus Lupin she knew he was just not the kind of boy Natalia would usually find interest in; for once, as she had already stated, he was not on her same social circle or same blood status as much as the other witch tried to deny it; secondly, he seemed quiet, something Natalia was not, and on top of all that, they barely knew each other; their first official talk had been the previous night, for Merlin's sake!

Natalia had always been one to jump into something as soon as it caught her eye and there was no one that could convince her otherwise. She'd try to get the boy. Jane knew someone would get hurt if she didn't get bored before, and she hoped the one wasn't Natalia.

"You look so very pretty, Janie! .My, my, my! Simon is one lucky wizard"

"Stop it!" the taller witch said as she fixed her skirt around the frame, blush spreading across her face.

Whereas the redness came from the compliment or the mention of her brother, Natalia couldn't tell. Truth was, she did look beautiful, for black – the colour of her dress, did wonders to her face and she found her best friend was the best possible date her twin could've achieved.

"Really. Where was it you got that dress from?" 

"It was Emily's, I told you. She felt bad because I didn't have anything else to wear so she owed me this"

"Well, that's very generous of her, and very silly of you; hadn't your parents given you permission to buy clothes for special occasions? And you knew perfectly well that the party was today"

"Yes, but I just wasn't sure if I was going to be invited"

"Of course you were. We talked about it. I even made Simon to promise he'd take you" Natalia said, applying some more powder to her already pink cheeks "Anyway, once you take it off please do tell me what the label says, I adore the flowers; wonder If I could get it in pink..."

Slughorn's annual Halloween celebration was taking place that very same Friday; a day before from actual Halloween, since he had realized many years ago that kinds tended to have their own parties on the actual festiveness's day. Only members of the club were officially invited, so naturally Natalia and her brother were going, but on special occasions such as that one, or during Christmas, they were allowed to bring a date along; Jane, not being an actual member, was going arm on arm with Simon, while Natalia, not feeling particularly charitable enough to bring as her date another person who wanted to get in but couldn't, made arrangements with Hippolytus, another member.

Gatherings such as that one were enjoyed by Natalia for many reasons that was; firstly, because she got to wear her nicest dresses, as it was the appropriate thing to do; but also because most guests were of her liking – with the exception of Evans, Rosier and Snape, she rarely found anyone there whose guts she could not tolerate. Not even Constance Allingway was a part of it, by some miraculous motive.

They met with the boys up in the common room, both wearing identical frowns and leaning against the sofa, half sitting, half standing. Some first and seconds years were around, the giggles of little girls glancing at two handsome wizards on some of their best robes could be heard once and then, but neither wizard paid any mind to that.

"Finally" Simon cried under his breath as he grabbed his jacket from the sofa, making his twin roll her eyes.

"I think you mean, ' _Good evening. You two look your loveliest_ " she sang, smiling at him before turning around to grab their friend's offering arm "and then I would say, 'so do you two'"

That managed to make _him_ roll his eyes, but gained her a chuckle from Hippolytus, along with a soft kiss against her cheek, to which she smiled with fondness. The Lestrange boy was the perfect wizard most of the time and she knew made a perfect date; if only they liked each other as something more than friends, that'd be superb. Just thinking of the impossibility of a romance with Hippolytus got her thinking of a certain someone, not Remus Lupin that was, and soon Natalia watched in fear as a cloud of a thought appeared to water down her perfect night; thankfully, her date's voice saved her just in time.

"You do look lovely"

That made her smile return: "Well, aren't you a dear?"

Giving her brother a look over the shoulder before walking away, she reminded him not to forget his manners and do as was appropriate with his own date. She only regain normal paste once she heard the words "You look very nice, Jane" come out of his mouth.

The place, as usual, was greatly decorated and the music was pleasant, and so were the conversations one could overheard from the other guests. Many things could be said about Horace Slughorn, but not that he wasn't a great host. Doing the proper thing to do, for they all were well bread and aware of social etiquette, they greeted the old professor as soon as they got there; the man was delighted with their presence, and even mentioned how happy he was Miss Abbott was able to join them; they talked about Mr. Yaxley, who Slughorn remembered fondly, and also of Mrs. Lestrange " _a delightful witch and a very good friend_ ".

After that, doing as they usually did, the boys took off to chat with some other people in the party, about what? Natalia could only guess Quidditch, since almost the whole of the Slytherin team was there, even little Regulus Black, who stood over in the corner, immersed in a conversation with a girl and a boy his year.

Natalia was simply compelled to observe him, despite her reason telling her it'd do no good doing so and that she had no motives to do that, but he looked so much like his twat of a brother and that made her be curious. Ignoring Jane's voice, she ran her eyes across the boy's face; softer than his brother's but just as pale; his hair, although not short for a boy his age, especially on top, was shorter than his brother's, little waves forming on the ends; his eyes were the same but his lips were smaller.

Not that she was taking any precaution with her peeping, but the realization he had caught her staring wasn't any pleasant. Doing her best to recover quickly from her surprise and to make the scene look the most natural possible, she smiled and waved to the boy, gaining a nod from him and a wandering look from Jane. Not that she was dying to talk to him, especially not after the embarrassment of what had just happened, but she knew she had to make it look as if she was calling up for his attention instead of letting him come up with theories of why she was looking at him.

"Come on, Janie. Let's go say hi" she said, grabbing her friend by the arm.

"Why are we talking to him?" the witch whispered as they made their way.

"Don't be hermit, now. He's a fine boy and looks the most bored"

"He always looks like that"

"I'm sure he doesn't"

And no contradiction from Jane's part could be made after that, for they were already in front of the younger group. Regulus Black's face remained unchanged, whereas the other two smiled at the newcomers; the boy was a Slytherin, probably younger than Regulus himself judging by his face but much bigger if one looked at his frame, one of the Bulstrode boys if Natalia had to guess; the girl was the daughter of the composer, Joseph Dae, and a Ravenclaw.

"Hello, Florence Dae" she smiled sweetly, introducing herself "Enjoying the party?"

Introductions were made and soon a conversation took place, and judging by the short answers that were provided by young Regulus Black, one he did not wish to be a part of, despite Natalia's insistence on it.

 _"So Regulus, tell me, how's your family doing?"; "Your parents must be so very proud of having a son such as yourself, aren't they?"; "I adore your robes, where'd you get them? I have to get Simon some of these for Christmas. Your taste is most proper and delightful"_

Those were some of the numerous questions Natalia Yaxley asked the fifth year, soon boring the rest of the circle around them and gaining herself a curious look from her best friend. Regulus Black was, to put it simple, not happy, finding the questions just as obnoxious as the person making them; he was almost happy when Florence Dae asked about the blonde's own dress and she placed her attention elsewhere, going on and on about how the purple dress was acquired in France and went well with her eyes. Regulus escaped somewhere in the middle of that.

The rest of the evening went without much trouble and by the time they were to leave, Natalia could say with almost complete security that she hadn't had such a great time as she had hoped; why that was she feared to know the reason why.


	10. chapter 10

_**Remember that I don't own Harry Potter and none of J.K Rowling's ideas.**_

 _The dog days are done_

 _The horses are coming so you better run_

 _Run fast for your mother run fast for your father_

 _Run for your children for your sisters and brothers_

 _Leave all your love and your longing behind you_

 _Can't carry it with you if you want to survive_

Of all his years at Hogwarts, Simon Yaxley could only say he had blasts of fun mixed with an alright amount of studying. He had played Quidditch officially ever since third year and had even been a reserve during his second, something he had always vaunted of. His grades had always been slightly above average, the lack of pressure from finding a job due to his father's connections always allowing him to slag a bit more than the rest of the students. His friends were the right kind of friends, all pure and with likeable ambitions as his own, their families being also friends one with the other. During his free time he used to party or go to the town for the day. On top of all that, sharing every class with his sister allowed him to keep her on track, as requested by their mother since a young age, that being really his main responsibility in life. To describe all those years, he certainly could make use of the word: carefree.

He could not believe how much all of that had changed in less than a year.

It had been during that summer right after his fifth year when he had wanted to do nothing more but to play Quidditch and plan some strategies for the following year, since he had heard from Alfred Avery that he would yield his captaincy of the Slytherin team to no one else but him, Simon Yaxley. He planned of nothing more but focusing on Quidditch and maybe, if his itinerary allowed him to do so, hang out with some friends perhaps for a few days. Unfortunately, nothing had gone how he had expected and neither Quidditch nor plans with friends were possible for him anymore.

It was after a party his family had held at their manor. Unlike many others, this one had been a small gathering, just a selected amount of people were there. According to what he heard his father say days prior to it, Abraxas Malfoy had requested for him to host the party as a favor to a school friend of his, thing Bruno Yaxley did in a heartbeat, after all, he was very fond of the Malfoys, having shared school time with Abraxas's younger brother, Bastion.

Simon had also been surprised when he bumped into the information that his mother had requested his sister to remain in her room while the party was being held, much to Natalia's annoyance. His twin had cried, kicked and asked for that rule to be removed, but one last look from Petra Yaxley's stone cold eyes made her realize there wasn't going to be a change of plans, no matter what she tried or how much she begged. It did really surprise him lots, since his parents hadn't missed an opportunity to get their daughter mixed among the pureblood society ever since Natalia had hit puberty, in hopes of getting her a good husband.

He had been terribly bored during the party since most people there were men around the age of his parents and the vast majority had not even bought a wife with them, something he again, found odd. There were a few faces he vaguely remembered from his early years at Hogwarts, former students who were now well into their middle 20s and that didn't bother talking to someone as young as him and instead preferred to socialize among the rest of the adults present.

His father had been absent from the party since the early start of it and Simon wondered how it was possible his mother wasn't utterly annoyed by it, since she seemed invested in an innocent talk with Mrs. Nott and Mrs. Malfoy, the only other two woman at the venue, as if without a care in the world. His brother Sebastian had been absent from it too since he was in France at the moment, spending time at his future fiancée's manor- a request by the witch's mother who needed to judge by herself if she was handing her only daughter to the right man, after all, she didn't trust British, as neither did anyone else.

And as much as he hated to admit, the absence of his sister was very dreading as well. It was just when he was about to sneak away from the party with the excuse to check up on Natalia when his father emerged from his office, followed by two other men in dark robes. His eyes flew instantly to Simon who hadn't even made it to the second step of the staircase, and a bright smile appeared on his face as he guided the other two gentlemen towards his youngest son.

Something was odd on his smile. Bruno Yaxley was despite all, a well natured person and his smile was his most complimented feature since it came natural to him to smile at mostly every situation. Right there, it seemed that there was nothing natural about the one he was wearing then, and his son was able to catch up on that soon.

"Simon, just the person I longed to see" his father smiled while walking closer to him, fondly petting his chest "You do know Tobias isn't It right, my boy?" he pointed towards one of the two men.

The teenager nodded and politely stretched hands with Mr. Nott who had a stone like face and despite the fact of only being forty six and a father of one, the man looked in a deplorable state. The other wizard was easier to recognize and the reason why his father hadn't mentioned him; it was Bruno's first cousin, Corban Yaxley.

"You got tall" was all he said.

"Yes, uncle Corban. It's good seeing you"

The old man nodded and the boy centered his attention once again on his father, not really on the mood to try to get into a conversation with his weird uncle.

Corban Yaxley was not his favourite family member, in fact, he wasn't anyone's favourite family member- not even his father liked him that much really, although he would probably deny it. The reason why was an enigma itself since the man didn't have any evident signs of why he shouldn't be liked. Simon and Natalia used to make up terrible stories about the man when they were younger but stopped doing it so freely after they were heard by their mother and told off, but secretly, they still believed their mother agreed with them on those.

His father smiled reassuringly to him and squeezed his arm but really nothing Bruno Yaxley could have done would have prepared him for what he was about to witness.

Simon really thought Lord Voldemort could've brought a grown up man crying to his knees; he, himself felt the urge to take a hold of his father's arm when he first saw the dark wizard in front of him; of course he was quick to recover once he saw the nervous and disapproving glance Mr. Yaxley sent him.

Lord Voldemort was neither a man nor a creature but Simon Yaxley was sure he was one of the scariest people he had ever encountered and would probable retain that title for many years to come, if he was lucky. If he had been a child, he sure was he would've had sleeping problems after that encounter.

The whole meeting was blurry for him after the days passed. Perhaps it was the fact that his voice resembled the hissing of a snake; or maybe it was how bloodless his face looked; or it could have been the fact that his father had made him bow to greet him and looked so tensed in his own house, but it all seemed so unnatural that he naturally lost the definition of that memory.

"This is Lord Voldemort, Simon. As you have heard, he's a great man and has a plan to help us, all of us" he had said

No, he had never heard not even a word about that Voldemort, but he kept quiet. Surely, he wouldn't deny his father and brother must have talked about it during dinner every once and then, maybe even his mother could've mentioned him, but all he could think about before that meeting was Quidditch, fun and girls, in that order; he couldn't have cared less about politics and a ridiculous man who went by the name of Lord Voldemort. He wished then that he hadn't be as reckless and had paid more attention.

Lord Voldemort asked him about Hogwarts, which classes was he taking? Was he was first in his classes? He denied. Then he asked who that person would be. Of course, the question had caught him out of guard. The teenage was suspicious of it; why was that wizard who appeared to be so important interested in such trivial things as school?

"I'm not sure, my Lord…" he started, remembering to call him by his title and upon seeing the expecting look on the dark wizard's face he forced himself to dig inside his head and find and answer that would please him "Probably would be Lily Evans, my Lord" he then replied.

" _Evans_. It does not ring a bell for me. I take It her family is not one of our own, am I correct?"

He nodded.

"She's a mudblood, sir"

Somehow his answer made Lord Voldemort laugh. Simon wanted nothing more than run straight to his father and hug him, just like a child. If Lord Voldemort was scary before, the picture of him laughing was terrifying; so much, it actually made Mr. Yaxley uncomfortable as well, and Simon noticed by the way his posture changed.

"And do you think that's alright? Are you happy with it, boy?"

"Well… no." he muttered.

"Those mudbloods… They come to our world and steal what's ours. This is not the first story about a muggle born trying to escalate higher than an actual wizard of witch." he then switched his attention to his father " Yaxley, for how long has magic been running in your family name?"

"Since ever… my Lord. Since the beginning of times"

"And how long does this Evans girl knows of magic existence for? Six years? Seven? It's ridiculous."

Everyone in the room nodded, agreeing with the wizard. It was then when Simon put aside his fear of the wizard and began to really listen to his words. He was just voicing out what was heard all over every pureblood family's dinner table, he just made it sound so much better than they all did.

"You see, Simon. I've a dream, one of which mudbloods are not a part of and I was hoping you'd help me to fulfill it"

Simon nodded, his eyes shining upon the possibility of the existence of a word such as that one. A world where magic was safe and people his kind didn't have to hide or worry.

All Lord Voldemort wanted him so far was to swear loyalty to him. As soon as the words had come out of the dark wizard Simon felt the need to look at his father, thing he did, begging for permission. He did not feel comfortable swearing loyalty to anyone but his own family and Slytherin, no matter how much he agreed with Voldemort. Apparently, his father wasn't a fan of the whole thing either, but the look he sent him made him obey to Lord Voldemort's words immediately.

The following day his parents organized a special dinner just for him, as congratulation for joining the cause. His sister had been annoyed by the whole thing since she couldn't understand what could be so important about it, after all, she merely thought he was swearing loyalty to a who knows who; who's last name, Natalia had never heard of. All his favourite meals were in there: filet mignon, roasted ham, smashed potatoes, Strinky's pudding and his guilty pleasure, Maggoty Haggis- which he wouldn't eat anywhere else but the comfort of his own house. His father had congratulated him, although both of his children could see he didn't sound sincere; his mother didn't say much, she just thanked him for his bravery and said she wished for him to succeed on cleaning their world from the scum. Out of all his immediate family, his brother was the only one who Simon could sense was sincere on his congratulations; he had hugged his younger brother as soon as he had come from his latest trip and told him he wished it had been him who could take all the glory.

The loyalty part was just the first of many to come. Soon he was in charge of recruiting people his age for the cause and he was soon learning about strategy and curses that would make his uncle Corban's blood run cold. His parents had allowed him to drop some classes in order for him to focus on his new and advanced "studies". Every Saturday they would meet at Hogsmeade with one of the older wizards, the ones who had graduated school a few years back and then they would learn more than what any student at Hogwarts could ever dream of- cruciatus, imperius and soon they would be hearing of the third one, or at least so they had been promised. His parents had suggested he should drop Quidditch, the thought of it made him just want to cry, and he was not a crier.

So far, he had gained the trust of other four people who had found interest in Lord Voldemort's secret cause: Alastar Travers, Evan Rosier, Hippolytus Lestrange and a wimpy seventh year, Hesperus Flint who Simon doubted could serve of anything until he saw his skills in dark magic. None of them had taken the mark up yet, not even Simon, thing for which he wasn't sure he should feel relieved or not. It wasn't that he didn't stand by Lord Voldemort's values; all the opposite, he was happy to get every single mudblood and any kind of wizard of witch who threatened the magical world, _his world_ , out of it; but he felt scared; there had been a reason why the sorting hadn't sent him into Gryffindor.

All in all, Simon Yaxley was grateful about the Christmas break. He looked forward spending time at his home by the cozy fireplace, listening to his sister whine about clothes and everything he did and that annoyed her (which he secretly did with just that purpose only), eating his own weight on Strinky's food, enduring a visit from his annoying cousins, opening a vast amount of presents and having the Yule ball as the most outstanding event of the holidays. He wanted the simplicity Christmas offered, and he was counting the days for it to happen.

"I'm so lonely" Natalia complained with a sigh.

They were working on their charms essay that Wednesday with Hippolytus who had excused himself and left a few minutes earlier with the excuse of a meeting with his alchemy group (a grouch which Simon had seem himself obliged to drop at the beginning of the year). Jane had finished said essay the previous week, so naturally she was relaxing in her chamber while reading a book, so that left both Yaxley twins by themselves.

"You don't say Natalia" the boy mentioned, not bothering to even lift his eyes up from his parchment.

"Well no one has time for me anymore. Jane is always studying. So are you, or you're busy with that silly little elite club of yours of which I can't and neither want to be a part of" she said, sounding condescending "and then papa is always busy with work and Sebastian is always with that fiancée of his and barely writes to me anymore, which leaves me" she sighed on a dramatic way, dropping her head over her chin "alone"

Simon rolled his eyes, still not looking at his sister, thinking she was being just herself.

"You and Jane spend every second together. We do too"

"Yes, but every second we spend together you're always telling me off because of something."

"Well, if you didn't do things which resulting in me telling you off then I probably wouldn't do it"

"We barely do fun stuff anymore!" Natalia whined, ignoring his words completely.

Simon cleared up his throat and finally decided to drop his quill and look at his twin. Natalia had a look of absolute hopefulness on her face. Of course Simon knew his little sister tended to be overly dramatic, but it did not please him to see her in distress, no matter how unjustified said problem could appear to the regular wizard. When they were kids he would have replied to such a statement with a roll of eyes and telling her to grow up already and stop being such melodramatic brat, to then feel bad about it hours later for the rest of the day until he got her sweets and made amends. Luckily for both of them, Simon had matured- kind of.

"Alright… why don't we go for some honey cake the two of us?"

Natalia played with her hair.

"And tea…?"

He tried to suppress a smile but failed to do so.

"Yes, honey cake and tea. Is Sunday alright for you? We can go to Hogsmeade"

She nodded and smiled. Then, out of the sudden she stood up in less than a second and gave her brother a quick hug from the shoulders, to which he smiled, knowing she couldn't see him, and complained at the same time.

After such a tender scene the Yaxley siblings continued working on their essays while helping each other, both grateful to have one another in their lives.


	11. chapter 11

_Oh, dear diary, I met a boy_  
 _He made my dull heart light up with joy_  
 _Oh dear diary, we fell apart_  
 _Welcome to the life of Electra Heart_

 _Monday. November, 15. 1976_

That morning Jane found herself fighting hard against the tears. The most humiliating thing in the world had just happened, and that was saying a lot considering it came from a girl who had threw up over her longtime crush's shoes just a few weeks ago. She was lucky Natalia came out of the classroom just as she felt one of her eyes watering a little bit too much. Her best friend grabbed her harshly by the arm and pulled her out from their Transfigurations classroom, obvious of the deploring state the other girl presented.

"Come on, Jane" Natalia said quickly, clearly on a bad mood.

Jane didn't even think about it twice before fastening her steps, escaping that room being her number one priority. She let out a sigh after being away from the cause of her problems and soon let a single tear came out of her right eye; luckily she wasn't one of crying dramatically in front of other people, unlike some other witches.

"Ugh, you just won't believe what that dorcus said to me. He has some nerve to talk to me that way. Telling me to stay away from Remus" she buffed "Ha! As if he didn't like me being around. He's so full of himself, thinking all kind of things and—oh, Janey, darling. What happened?! Why are you crying?"

Soon she felt the shorter witch stopping slowly and wrapping her arms around her wider shoulders, getting closer to her, thing that only managed to get the taller witch to cry louder. She felt so used and unimportant, but most importantly, she felt dumb, so very dumb. How could she have been so naïve as to think he could actually feel something for the awkward, whimpy girl who threw up on his shoes?

"Janey, Janey… whats wrong, huh? You can tell me…" Natalia soothed, stroking the other witch's hair on a maturing manner.

Jane kept crying unable to say a thing, the humiliation far too big to be shared that easily. Instead, she asked her friend to take her to the second floor bathrooms, where no one really went. Of course, the Yaxley girl agreed immediately and both arrived there with not even a word being spoken. They were lucky mourning Myrtle left them alone as soon as she noticed the colour on the girls' ties, because she didn't like Slytherins and they intimidated her so she tended to avoid them.

Once in there, the Abbott girl took some time to wash her face. She hadn't' cried that much for her eyes to be red but one could still tell she had if they paid enough attention; she snorted at the thought of that, because apart from Natalia, who else would pay attention? Not James, that was for sure. She analyzed her face and wondered why was it she could never get anyone to find interest in her; she didn't believe herself to be ugly, so the only answer could be she was just a plain Jane, just as her name suggested.

"So, are you ready to tell me what happened?" Natalia asked worriedly on a sweet voice.

Jane sighed, glad her friend brought her back from her self-loathing thoughts. Merlin knew she didn't need anything to make her feel more miserable at the moment, especially not herself. She walked closer to her friend and sat down with her legs closed, thing which reluctantly, Natalia did too. She was about to complain about how disgusting sitting on a bathroom's floor was but then Jane began talking.

"He asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend, Nat" Jane said drily "Can you believe that? And I actually thought that maybe, just maybe, he liked me. Of course he doesn't. It's always the same and I'm tired of it. I'm just a plain Jane, let's face it"

And then she began crying again, the rage visible in her mannerism and words. The action made the other Slytherin give her a hug quite quickly while soothing her back, something that reminded Jane of her mother, a thought that also made her cry because she missed being close to her mother. _Oh feelings,_ why did she have to have them?

"Oh, Janey you're not plain. You're a Jimp Jane, okay? You've always been and always will be" She said hurriedly, wanting nothing more but her friend to believe her words "And you deserve so much better than Potter, he's a knob. A stupid knob"

Jane sniffed.

"But he's the knob I want!"

Natalia did her best not to roll her eyes and held on tight onto her best friend who did the same thing. _Merlin, did she usually behave like Jane did at that moment?_ She'd have to change that. She touched the other witch's hair with care for she knew that'd make her feel better, while she listened to her cry, her eyes wondering around the room trying to make sure no one would interrupt their feelings let out session.

"So what did you say?" she asked.

Jane sniffed a few more times before replying.

"I promised to give him an answer after Christmas break"

"Jane!" the other witch reprimanded her "are you serious? That boy is the worst. You should've said no straight away"

Slowly, Jane pulled out of the hug, insecure about her answer being right after all. It wasn't that she believed that with time she'd warm up to James's deal, like it would become more embarrassing if she left it to rest, she just didn't want to talk at the moment because that'd mean crying in front of him which was something she didn't want to do, but after hearing her friend's words she wondered if she did the right thing by not cutting it off straight away.

"Well, I didn't want to cry in front of him so I figured I should say something quickly and then leave, as I did"

"And wasn't a 'no' a shorter answer than ' _I'll give you and answer after Christmas break_ "" Natalia scolded her.

Merlin, Jane felt like she was getting a lecture from her mother.

"Yes.. I guess you're right, I-I just-"

"You just didn't want to say no" The girl guessed for her. Her voice soft but still authoritative.

Jane tried to give and answer but nothing other than " _uh um_ " and " _I-I_ " came out of her lips. _Yes_ , she had wanted to say, but was too embarrassed to admit it. If that was the only way she could have James Potter so be it. She cared about him dearly and had dream of being with him ever since her mother's 48th birthday celebration when she was seven and he defended her from her brother and cousins. He treated her nicely and considered her as a good friend, and wasn't that the same way with couples anyway? If the anger and surprise from the moment hadn't prevented her from it, she was death sure she'd have said yes, which only made her more pathetic all together.

Her silence was all Natalia needed as a form of confirmation. The shortest girl rolled her eyes and slowly wrapped her arms around her best friend's frame, her cheek resting over Jane's blonde head.

"You're going to do it either way regardless of what I tell you, won't you?"

Jane took a few seconds to think about it before as finally nodded, deciding there was no point in lying to herself and to her friend for she'd find out soon enough.

"I just want to know what It feels like, even if it's not real and I- 

"Okay stop, I don't need your explanations because It makes me seriously want to tell you off" both girls chuckled slightly "but I will help you no matter what. You're my best friend, Jane; I'll always be here whatever choice you make. Unless you chose to marry Evan Rosier then I will just avoid you for eternity"

Both girls laughed again.

"Yikes"

"I know. Anywhosie, since you're going to do it I think you should get something more than just the experience"

Jane moved her head away and semi broke off the hug just so she could look at the other witch's wide eyes which had that particular glossiness they always got every time her friend would get an idea.

"What do you mean, Nat?"

"I mean that If you have to pretend to be James Potter's girlfriend for Morgana knows how long, you should at least get the guy at the end"

The other girl rolled her eyes.

" Well tell me something I don't know. I know I should get him, of all people. After all I'm going to do him the biggest favor of the century"

"Exactly, and by doing him said favor you now get to have some tolls you didn't before."

"Natalia you're seriously not making any sense right now"

Natalia looked dead serious into Jane's eyes and the tallest girl felt completely intimidated by it. It was just a little trick the Yaxley girl had inherited from her mother and tended to use every now and then as a form of amusement if you will, and also as a very useful weapon when needed to be heard.

"Jane Eileen Abbott, I always make sense. Anyway, as I was saying: you now get to know where he is at every second and Potter being the creep he is will surely know where Evans is every second of the day, right? This means that you, as his faux girlfriend, will know too"

"So I-

"Don't interrupt me please" Jane rolled her eyes "By knowing where both of them are, you get to choose when they're going to bump into each other and when is not a good time to do so. For instance: picture this, Potter's looking terrible because this potion from class gave him the grossest pimple man has ever dared to look at; then, you want her to see him."

The other girl nodded, slowly staring to understand the basics of her best friend's master plan.

"If he's having a bad day, and you know she's near, 'boom', you make both of them crash into each other: Potter by obviousness will say something obnoxious to her and she, typically will be rude to him." Natalia smiled, seeing how her plan was making sense now to everyone in the room "Besides, spending so much time with him will give you the opportunity to fill his head with some believes about her; nothing too obvious, then he'll know you're doing it purely because of jealousy, but just leave some comments for him to pick up and then think about later by himself."

"Like…"

"I don't know, Jane. I can't do all the thinking. Maybe you could make up this rumor about redheads having terrible breath in the morning? I'm sure you'll come up with something"

There was silence after she finished explaining her procedure. Jane couldn't stop staring at the girl in front of her; a small smile had formed on her pink lips halfway the explanation and it seemed to be only getting bigger and bigger. Unexpectedly the taller witch hugged the shortest with fierceness, all her energy recovered from before.

"Oh, Nat. You're so smart. I owe you my life"

"I know" Natalia smiled "My blood Is worth bottling, isn't that right?"

After they left the bathroom Natalia let out a sigh. Her conversations with both Black and Jane had been completely energy draining and she contemplated ditching class to drink some tea in bed with Matilda. She didn't act on her thoughts, knowing that she was already in enough problems with her mother because of her last detention session, and she didn't want to add anything else to the list. She also knew a new Transfigurations test was coming up sooner than later and that there were not many chances she'd ever again take or get any tutoring from Black; she didn't want it and neither did he.

She also thought a lot about the conversation she had with Sirius Black during class earlier that day. Her ears were boiling when she heard all he had to say but forgot all about it after Jane told about her own problem. He had accused her of playing some kind of twisted game with his friends and he " _advised_ " her to stop. He though she was being friendly with Remus to make him jealous. _Ha_! She rolled her eyes at that. She was neither playing a game nor going to stop a thing just because Sirius Black asked her to do it.

Another good thing that came out of all the troubles from that day was that Natalia no longer felt that weird about the make out session she and Black had. She didn't blush anymore when thinking about the boy in question, if anything, she just felt her usual hatred towards the Gryffindor and she was safe to assume that any kind of nice feelings she felt for him were removed forever and that life could continue with normality.

Remus Lupin was also one of the staring thoughts on her head. The boy had been nothing but a delight to be around, not that it had happened much, really. She had seen him again during potions and he had nodded at her and smiled when they almost crashed into each other while going to submit their dials. The witch had really wanted to make small talk but just one glance around the room told her Simon was near and she really didn't want him snooping around her business and asking questions as he sure would. After all, her brother still thought that she used to hold a forbidden relationship with someone in the castle, and she didn't want him thinking said person was poor Remus.

She basically ignored Jane every time she tried to brought up the James Potter's subject; she was now being completely obnoxious with her multiple questions which had already been answered at least twice before. Should she say yes before en of month? " _No"_ Natalia had answered, " _It will make you seem desperate"_. Should I back off? " _Yes, you should._ " Do I want to back off? " _No, I guess you don't_."

She was then regretting ever telling the Abbott girl anything. True, she had been the one to come up with the plan, but that was purely because she knew Jane was going to do it anyway and she wanted her friend to at least get a chance to get what she wanted; and besides, it wasn't as if she didn't enjoy prolonging Potter's suffering and keeping that Evans girl as far away from true magical blood as possible; still, she didn't believe Jane had what it took to do something like that; it was likely the blonde witch would get her heart broken instead, for she was too nice.

All she really wanted to do was go to bed, drink some tea and write to her father about all the presents she wished to get that Christmas, but, detention was waiting for her, all courtesy of Sirius Black and Minerva McGonagall, two of her favourite people in the whole castle, please, notice the sarcasm. The thought of it made her want to barf.

When she got to the classroom the boy in question was already there and all she did was glare at him before rolling her eyes, making sure he noticed, and he responded the same way. That had been their form of communication for the last few weeks, and she wasn't planning on changing it.

Professor McGonagall gave them a little scold about how she expected better of both and that she didn't want to hear them interrupting the class with their constant fighting anymore and the students listened to every word with boredom, both convinced it had been the other's fault. She later admitted on being perhaps a little bit too strict on them, so she gave them the whole detention night to practice the latest spells they had been learning, disappearing not before warning them that she still expected them to spend those two hours together in full peacefulness.

They kept silent for a while, both focused on their own work, one of them clearly struggling more than the other.

She had no interest in talking to him. If she wanted to feel looked down and be told off she would write to her mother, at least the woman had somehow of a right to do so. He preferred to be silent as well since he had learnt that with Natalia it was a lot easier that way; he had decided to leave what had happened behind and hope no one would ever find out and that with time, she'd forget just as he'd too.

Everything was going well according to both wizards' standards. Natalia gave up on the practical practice and began working on some theoretical work while humming to a song by " _The Blibbering Humdlingers_ ". Sirius rolled his eyes at the act. The Blibbering Humdlingers were a band young witches seemed to adore those days, courtesy of their highly attractive male members, he supposed. They claimed they made wrock but instead Sirius thought they made corny stupid songs for corny stupid girls who knew nothing about real music, much like Natalia Yaxley. He preferred bands like " _Muggle snuggle_ ", " _Roonil wazlib_ " or his favourite, " _Swish and flick_ ".

He would've commented on the humming but since they were not on speaking terms he decided to keep the thoughts to himself.

It wasn't until she began humming to a new song that his eyes lit up with an actual interest. He couldn't quite place at the beginning why that song was so familiar to him, her lack of musical ear perhaps having something to do with that. It took him some solid minutes to realize where he remembered it from. It was a wizarding lullaby, a really old one no many people sang to their babies anymore; only really traditional families kept it alive, his own being a clear example of it and by the looks of it, so were the Yaxleys. His had Kreacher sing that song to both her children until they weren't toddlers anymore- not that his mother was the affectionate type who made her elf sing to her babies only to be nice, but she was a sucker for traditions.

Sirius supposed that her parents also had their own elves singing that to her and her siblings; Merlin, if he had to guess, he'd say that maybe they sang it themselves, judging by how soft Mr. Yaxley always appeared to be towards his daughter. He had met both Mr. & Mrs. Yaxley and had no doubt that they were both just as traditional and old fashioned as his own parents, if not more. According to Walburga Black, Bruno and Petra Yaxley were some of the last truly respectable purebloods marriages in Britain; the thought made him want to roll his eyes. He supposed that his and Natalia's parents were pretty much the same; just another thing they had in common, _how lovely_.

Trying to be careful not to get caught, he glanced over the blonde and tried to pick up on something that made her different from him and his friends, besides the obvious. Truth was that while humming to a lullaby and looking rather calm, writing some words down, hair loose and curly, he couldn't see anything disturbing about her, quite the opposite: with none of her pears around, no yelling nor arguing or laughing like a madwoman, she looked just like a regular sixteen year old witch would. She was almost like him, and although the thought scandalized him, it also brought some sort of warmness to the idea of her.

He thought about the previous day and their fight and once again he admitted to himself that he could have managed the whole situation on a more valuable way. After all, as he already stated it, her parents were no very different from his own and Sirius bloody knew he had been scared of their reaction towards his choices and actions more often than not during all his school years. If anything, he assumed it was all worse for Natalia who didn't count with friends like his or values like the ones he learnt at Gryffindor, such as bravery. She was probably scared and had reacted on a way a little too dramatic; but then again, that was how girls managed everything.

It was because of that song that he made a choice, letting a few words slip from his mouth. His voice coming out a little bit rusty at first; not having talked for quite a while: "What's the name of that song?"

She raised her head up. He had a good view of her blue eyes and he could see how she tried to hide the surprise away from them, soon turning them into cold ice again.

" _Lavander's blue_. It's a lullaby" her voice was filled with umbrage but he chose to ignore it and nodded.

"I'm aware. Mother used to have our elf sing it to my brother and I"

She looked at him as if waiting for him to say something else and when he didn't, she lowered her head again, focusing on her work one more time. After all that had happened, she wasn't about to make small talk with Sirius Black.

"Do you remember the words?" he said catching her attention once again.

She seemed suspicious of the question, as if looking for a second intention in it.

Truth was that he wanted to make amends with her. It felt like the right thing to do; after all, she had apologized to him when she was at wrong last time. He wasn't expecting to become friends with her or anything of that kind of nature, but he knew he hadn't been the nicest person to her and he wanted to believe he was the good guy there.

And why not, a small part of him actually wondered what the correct words for that song were.

" _Why_?"

"I don't remember them. Kreacher stopped singing it when Regulus turned around three, I think"

If anything, his little explanation only made Natalia's suspicious frown aggravate. Anyhow, slowly, she answered to him.

"Uhm…" she looked down, trying to analyze the situation "I… I could write it down for you."

Sirius nodded and she followed his example, soon tearing off a piece of parchment and writing quickly on it to later hand it out to the Gryffindor's side of the table. He looked down and saw every word plastered on a highfaluting handwriting that he thought couldn't belong to anyone else but her.

 _"Lavender's green, dilly dilly_

 _Lavender's blue_

 _If you love me, dilly dilly_

 _I will love you"_

The last paragraph read. Her version of the song seemed to be a few paragraphs longer than the one his mother used to recite and a few bits and pieces changed, but it was the same one he remembered. If he hadn't known himself and if he didn't despise his family, he'd had dared to say that the lullaby made him feel nostalgic, but that was ridiculous.

"I'm surprised you know all of it. I forgot of mostly everything but the beginning"

She began writing again on her own parchment, ready to ignore him again but Sirius could notice she wasn't nearly as focused as before, instead, her attention still relayed on him, somehow. A small lock of blonde hair covered her eyes so he couldn't really try and attempt to read them out and anticipate if she was indeed going to answer him or not, so he waited a bit, and she did.

"My papa still sings it to me sometimes" she said with a small blush, her voice soft "Not all the time of course, I'm not a baby. It's just a tradition for us"

Sirius nodded. He would make fun of any of his friends if he heard that their parents still sang lullabies to them, tradition or not, but he guessed it was different with girls; besides, the whole point of him talking to her was to make amends, which he wasn't going to succeed on if he called her a baby and laughed at her face.

"You know… Remus mentioned you were upset yesterday" he let out, looking at the parchment on his hands.

That clearly caught her attention because soon she had stopped writing and was looking at him, with big eyes and raised brows.

"Did he talk about me?"

He fought the need to snort; was that really all she could get out of what he just said? He was trying really hard to apologize but she didn't seem to get it. Why did girls have to make everything more complicated than it was? Her question was ignored and instead, he made one of his own.

"I was rude to you that day, was it because of that?"

"What? No" she said quickly, crossing her arms, suddenly feeling cold.

"Well, if it was… I shouldn't have treated you that way" he let out.

Natalia looked at him for a whole minute in silence. She assumed he was apologizing. She would have rolled her eyes but decided against it; however, the fact that he couldn't really voice out an actual apology did annoy her terribly.

He waited patiently for her to say something before he realized that there wasn't much she could really say. After all, it wasn't as if he was saying 'sorry', he was just stating something both of them already knew. Yes, he should've been nicer to her. What was him expecting her to say? 'Thank you for realizing, Sirius!'?

At the end, she nodded, deciding it was her smartest move. She didn't want to forgive him; he wasn't even apologizing, for Merlin's beard! But truth was she wasn't really as upset anymore about the way he treated her the previous afternoon, neither was she as embarrassed of kissing him anymore (which didn't mean she didn't regret it, because she did, a lot); anyway, she figured it wouldn't do her any good being on his bad side since that way he could always find a way to disturb her mood, as he had done earlier that day in class, and she didn't need any more situations such as that one.

Sirius thought that a nod was good enough of an answer and was content with it but also felt as if he should be saying something else; problem was he didn't want to say those exact words, so he decided to go for something else instead, which he thought would have a similar effect on the witch.

"So, about the tutoring… do you still need help?"

If possible, her ears would've jump out of her head over the surprise. She was definitely not expecting that and had already said goodbye to any chances of tutoring from him, having even been considering asking her mother—once again, with not much hope for it, to allow her to drop the class just like her brother had (not even worrying about the scolding that such request implied).

"Uh… yes, as a matter of fact… I do"

Sirius nodded and she pursed her lips and gave him some kind of smile, after all, he was doing her a favour.

Conversation was finished after that and by the time professor McGonagall came back into the room, the air was much lighter than before she left it.

A nod was exchanged between the students before they left; a silent peace treaty was made among both purebloods and they were convinced each of them took good from it; Sirius wouldn't have to deal with any blame he could happen to feel for the way he behaved and Natalia would get to pass Transfigurations and be out of her mother's watch for a while.

A small thought attacked Sirius on his way to the castle. Was he seriously being nice to a Slytherin? Did he actually felt guilt when he knew the kind of person she was? But he talked himself out of the idea. He wasn't being nice to a Slytherin, he was simply looking out for his best interests; chances were that if she didn't get his tutoring she'd ask Remus just to annoy him and hurt the sandy haired boy, and Remus being the nice Gryffindor he was, would agree. Sirius could not allow that to happen. That's why he offered to help; just to help his friend, and that was all.

That night, he dreamt of her again. Yikes.


	12. chapter 12

_Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time_ _  
_ _Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square_ _  
_ _In the frosty air_ _  
_ _What a bright time, it's the right time_ _  
_ _To rock the night away_

 _Wednesday. December, 22. 1976_

Wednesday was the last day before Christmas holidays officially began. The students were supposed to leave before afternoon, giving the lot enough time to pack after classes and say their goodbyes to the ones remaining in the castle. Natalia felt sorry for the suckers who weren't going home with their families.

It would be an understatement to say that Christmas was Natalia's favourite festivity, followed it by her birthday- which used to hold the first spot until Hogwarts began and she discovered her brother got more attention from the other students than she did during that day, since he was what people would call popular and she wasn't. The girl simply adored everything that came along with December 25th, from the food to the place and the people who she got to frequent. Of course she adored Hogwarts, but at home, most everything was perfect; she did not only not have to study or read unnecessary things, but she also got to get all the attention of her loved ones, not to mention she got to spoil herself a little with privacy and long bubble baths in her own chambers without people hurrying her to get out so they could have a bath too.

Her Yuletide break schedule hadn't change much ever since she started school. Each year, she'd get to England late on the 22nd of December to be received by her mother and father at the station; they would appear themselves at their lovely state just outside London and Strinky would be waiting for them with their favourite dishes to celebrate the twins were home and all the attention would be focused on them and they'd get asked all the same things they got asked in letters. December 23th would be a resting day when Natalia could relax and let the elves do their magic by giving her a glorious bath while she'd eat chocolates and write on her diary about how happy she was to be home. December 24th was her favourite day besides Christmas itself, it was when they were supposed to have their annual Yule ball, celebrated at the Malfoy's and where she could show off a dress she had already decided for during the previous summer. December 25th would include a lot of presents and after that, they'd leave for Romania to spend time with her grandparents and cousins, which also meant Natalia could have some fun with the dragons.

Much to Natalia's annoyance, there was a slight change of plans for 1976's itinerary. Since her brother Sebastian was soon supposed to be engaged to his French girlfriend, it had been decided by Mr. and Mrs. Yaxley that they weren't going to spend the remaining of their kid's Christmas break at Romania; instead, they'd be celebrating their eldest compromise party at their own state, in England, inviting over the family and many other friends. No matter how much that bothered Natalia, she made it a promise to herself and cat, Matilda, not to look too much into it, since it would only spoil her festive mood, after all, she had already tried convincing her parents not to do such a change, and they had shut her up.

That morning she woke up before the sun did, having compromised to visit Harvey early that morning to give him his Christmas present. Natalia had gotten him the most adorable little cat's sweater, which she had ordered on the biggest size from her catalog, ' _Fantastic Creatures's ornaments and Where to Find Them'_ because she knew he'd grow; also, she had gotten him some pet's biscuits her own cat just adored to eat on the weekends. She had missed her little beast during those days when Sirius Black and her were involved on an unspoken war, since she had stopped visiting in fears of running into the Gryffindor, but ever since they had made amends a little over a month ago, her weekly visits had returned to their original state, and both wizards had in fact, ran into each other in one occasion.

As soon as she stepped out of the castle she absolutely regretted doing it so with such light clothes on; December in Scotland characterized itself for being cold, especially during early mornings and her School Uniform didn't provide her a lot of warm once in the wild. The walk towards Hagrid's home didn't go without complications: as she was getting closer and closer to the cabin she almost fell over some big black rock; In order to avoid it, she fell next to it, on her knees. As she began cursing, she noticed from her new position on the ground that said rock had two eyes, four legs and a big mouth with lots of teeth: it was the biggest dog Natalia had ever seen.

She opened her mouth as if to speak but no sound came out, instead a light smoke did, product of the cold. She was absolutely terrified, having never seen a dog so big as that one, which she had to say, looked an awful lot like the Grim; she was soon relived to notice the eyes of the creature where of an electric grey, instead of yellow; so, not the Grim, apparently. She was still scared, however, the dog was big enough to eat her whole and seemed pretty upset and she happened to be just a few centimeters away from its big, scary mouth.

"Hi boy…" she whispered while slowly placing her hands on the ground, letting him know she meant no harm. Her white cashmere gloves soon tainted with dirt which would probably not come out.

She tried to lift the upper part of her body with extreme care, being mindful that the dog could rip her hands off in less than a second if feeling threatened and since she hadn't considered it necessary to take her wand with her, she was pretty much at its mercy. Right there laying on the ground, she had been as stupid as a muggle, and she was just as weak, since she had to work yet on her nonverbal spells.

"Easy there… I won't hurt you. I promise"

Once she made sure the animal wasn't an immediate threat to her physic was when she was able to stand on her knees and take a good look of it. Of course the dark colour of its fur made it difficult for her to notice, but she had been blessed with great eyesight spotting what was bothering the creature in less than a minute. There, near his right leg, next to his belly, was a big scratch which Natalia doubted another domestic animal could've been able to perform, making her worry that she should be scared about something else around.

"Let me take a closer look of that, okay?" she informed the dog, trying to calm down her nerves.

She could've sworn the animal nodded.

Natalia was careful not to touch him too quickly not too harshly since it would probably result in one big ugly bite which would probably leave a scar. With a lot of care from her part she was able to rest one of her hands over the animal, soothing him by a soft patting. She was relieved to realize his wound seemed mostly superficial and once her nerves drifted away she was finally able to feel more at ease with the animal.

"How come you're here by yourself? You look healthy to be a stray, right hun?" she talked to him, in that special way she reserved for animals only "And what's your name, by the way?"

The dog seemed to be following every movement she made with his magnetic silver eyes, which Natalia couldn't help but feel she had seen somewhere else. The way the animal was looking at her, she could've sworn he understood her- but then again, she thought every creature she ever talked to understood her every word she said, despite people claiming otherwise.

"Your wound shouldn't be too bad" she assured him "I checked it and I may not be an expert but it looks like a simple scratch; It'll stop being sore in the morning, I promise it looks worse than it is"

Still, the black dog kept motionless, his eyes glued to her face, surprised to see a kind human there. She wondered if a human had done that to him, for she knew her specie could be cruel, but she chose not to think of that option. Perhaps he was just a stray who wasn't used to people, she thought; that made her smile with sadness, poor little thing was left by itself outside in the cold with no love from anyone.

"Okay, since you don't seem to have a name or owner, I'll give you one. What about Vladi?" the dog growled "Well, no Vladi then; I'm sorry it offended you. I had a dog whose name was Vladi; It was my grandmother's really, but I got to see him a lot" she explained "What do you think about Xavier? No? No Xavier? Alright. Uhm… what about… What about Whitey? Because I know you're Black but that'd be funny, right?"

At that, the dog barked, as if he agreed with the last one, which made her giggle, the cold, fear and dirt from her clothes long gone from her mind. If the dog had had strength enough, she was sure it would have waved its tail.

"Okay, Whitey" she said while giving the dog a pat in the head, which he seemed to enjoy "I'll give you a Yule treat, alright? Here, you can eat one of these" she said while handing some of the treats she had bought for Harvey, leaving them on the ground next to the dog to sniff "They're really good. Not that I've tried them, unfortunately, but Matilda simply adores them. Matilda is my cat, by the way, she's really cute too" she said, patting its head.

And as she said those words she stood up slowly, this time not because of fear but because she was actually having a nice time talking to the big animal and didn't want to leave. It was strange to describe it, but she could honestly feel as if that dog understood her every single word much better than some people did, anyway.

"Okay, stay here. I'll go get Hagrid and he'll help you heal your wound. I'd do it myself but I didn't bring my wand, sorry; I sometimes wake up too dumb some mornings. Stay here, alright? You'll be fine after this and I'll find you a home so you won't spend Christmas alone."

And then she began walking away, the dog's eyes following her every move. She hoped she could convince her parents to allow her to keep Whitey at least for a few days at the stables. She was actually sure that if she managed to find a way to bring it with her into the express and then she looked at her papa right in the eye, he wouldn't have a problem with it. Besides all, her state's grounds really extended a long way and they had a lot of beautiful plants, so she figured the dog could keep the gnomes away.

However, all her planning for a new pet died the second she and Hagrid went back to the place where Whitey was supposed to be waiting for them and found that there was no Whitey after all. The groundkeeper shrugged and thanked her again for Harvey's sweater and gave her a pat in the shoulder before walking back to his cottage. The only thing that convinced Natalia she hadn't imagined White was the fact that her gloves were still dirty and the treats gone.

When having breakfast, Natalia saw herself dragged into conversation with Constance Allingway, much to her own displeasure. The fellow Slytherin girl had just grabbed a seat next to Natalia's and began asking questions about the annual Yule Ball both girls had attended every year since a young age. The facts that her brother had skipped breakfast because he had been doing last minute packing with the help of Hippolytus, and Jane being endorsed in her newest book, still in bed, left Natalia with no other choice but to actually talk to what she thought was the most annoying girl in Slytherin.

"So after the Ball, my parents and I, we're visiting my sister and her husband in Wales, so I'll be meeting my little niece. She's only two months old now, you know"

Natalia suppressed her need to roll her eyes. Of course she knew. Allingway hadn't shut up about it for at least a month after the baby was born, and sharing chambers meant that she got to hear most of her blabber. However, Natalia smiled brightly and locked her eyes with Constance's lighter ones, trying to show her nothing but sympathy and good manners.

"Ah, yes… What was her name again?"

"Catherine"

"Ah yes…" Natalia swallowed a blueberry and quickly smiled again "Has she been baptized yet?"

"No, she has not. My father has been a little ill and unable to travel so my sister decided to wait until he gets well"

"I see…" and then, her eyes drifted away from her own food and Allingway too "As much as I'd love to keep talking, Constance dear, I've to catch up with someone"

And then without allowing the other witch to answer, Natalia quickly began walking towards a certain sandy haired boy. Of course she thought she'd probably look a little desperate going over him again at the same spot she had done a few days ago, but she honestly couldn't bear keep the conversation with Constance any second longer; the girl's voice just annoyed her deeply and she was in a good mood for it to be spoiled by such a silly thing like Constance's thoughts.

Even Natalia who was considered to be oblivious of many things was able to notice the Gryffindor boy looked awfully pale and that the bags under his green eyes looked even bigger than per usual. She wanted nothing more but to stuff some food into his mouth so he would get better, since that's what always helped her when she was sick.

"Hi" she said with a smile, placing her frame next to his, hiding what she was holding behind her back "Rough night?" she joked.

Remus hid his surprise to see her talking to him again and smiled softly, already used to people asking things about his condition even if unknowing for them, they simply grew curious. To be honest, the previous night when he had turned hadn't been as bad as some other full moons, so the boy decided he was well enough to have breakfast with the rest of his peers and then go to the last classes before Christmas break.

"Yeah, I got a really bad headache and just couldn't catch any sleep" he lied easily.

Natalia grimed.

"That sounds terrible. Mother often gets those and they'd last for days. If she didn't have Mr. Vlistokf's sherbets she would be constantly in pain. They're really a wonderful thing; maybe you should try them out"

Remus nodded and smiled grateful at the attempt to help from the Slytherin girl. Although it was a small gesture, most people outside his friends group didn't show real concern when he seemed obliged to make up illness or conditions to cover up his furry problem; they'd usually change the subject as soon as they showed their ought concern.

"Thanks for the advice, Natalia. I'll try it out if I ever need it again"

She nodded.

"Stop calling me Natalia now, will you? We're not strangers anymore. Just please don't call me Nati; I loathe it." She warned

He nodded, surprised and yet glad about the sudden vow of confidence she was putting on him. He wished he could just nod his head on a cool way and say she could call him some interesting nickname as well, but he lacked of those (with the exception of course of Moony, which he wasn't about to let out in front of any girl because of obvious reasons) Instead he just smiled and said: "Alright, I guess I could call you Talia, in that case"

Natalia thought about it for a second while they walked, testing the name on her tongue.

"Um… Talia… I've never been called like that. I think I like it" she then smiled.

At last, Natalia and Remus walked together slowly towards Potions, taking a few more minutes than needed and talking about their Holidays plans and what they wanted for Christmas. Natalia learnt that Remus was spending the Holidays with his father, mother and maternal grandparents and that he didn't think it was going to be boring regardless of being the only young person in the house, fact that told the Slytherin girl he must have cared deeply about his family. Remus learnt that Natalia adored Christmas and was excited about her Yule party and seeing the rest of her family again.

They only drifted apart minutes before the class got started, since Natalia knew well enough her brother wouldn't arrive until a few seconds before Slughorn did, so she didn't worry about him seeing the two of them together.

Classes seemed to have finished sooner than usual, but she guessed that must've been mostly because she kept talking with Jane every single second of them, making time fly; but who could blame her, she wasn't going to see her best friend for two weeks! She had to make every second they spent together during their last day worth it.

As Transfigurations class had been cancelled that Friday, to give the students enough time to sort out their business before going away- Bless Merlin for that, she wasn't planning on interacting with Sirius Black at all during that day, but on her way to her chambers from Magical History, she ran into him. Although her first instinct was to ignore him and pretend she was looking at the book held in her hands, she didn't have any time to do it so since he nodded in her direction and she saw herself with no other option but to responding to it.

Usually, Natalia would share her compartment with Jane, her brother, Hippolytus and some other of his friends who would often leave before the ride was over to catch up with some other people before the Holidays, leaving the original four. Unlike every other year, this time, Natalia and Jane had the whole thing for themselves, not that they complained much about it, after all, now they could giggle and yell as much as they pleased without receiving any kind of annoyed looks from the boys.

Jane had wanted to keep reading her book, apparently it keep her entertained enough not to think about James; besides, it had been a present from her mother and she had promised to read it before the Holidays, thing that was safe to say she had failed in doing so since she was still a hundred pages short and not so many kilometers away. Mrs. Abbot was the daughter of a writer herself, Felix Fairfax, so naturally the woman had a liking for classical literature, something she had liked to pass on to her children; Emily being the only one who genuinely shared her passion for books.

"Oh come on, Janey! Stop it now. You won't finish it before seeing your mum, darling. Besides, you can always just repeat what you said on your letters"

The taller witch huffed.

"It's not that easy and you know it. I'll have to directly look at her face and then lie, and then she's going to catch me because I can't lie to save a life and she'll look disappointed and I'll feel bad"

Natalia rolled her eyes

"Oh come on, you've become a better liar, I swear. The other day I almost believed you when you said Nott's skirt didn't look that bad"

Both girls chuckled.

"Well I may be learning a thing or two from you"

"Seriously, Janey. We've the whole compartment for ourselves, let's chat"

And with a small sigh, Jane Abbott closed her books and fixed her eyes on Natalia.

"So why do you think that is? Aren't you a little bit curious?"

"What is?"

"The fact that the boys aren't here. Your brother said it was because of Quidditch planning? I call rubbish. I just saw little Regulus Black on my way to the loo"

Natalia bit on her lip.

"Yeah, I know. He's been acting a little bit weird lately; well, more than usual, I mean. I asked him about it and he told me to mind my own business" she rolled her eyes" as If he minded his own business at any time" she muttered on annoyance to herself "Anyway, I think is because of that club of theirs, whatever its name is"

"Yeah, but then again… they're boys… maybe it's just their age? You know, like when they were in fourth year and they'd all be really silly. Maybe is a new phase, to be really mysterious"

Natalia thought about it for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. Surely, her brother would tell her if anything too important was actually going on. Besides, as she had stated minutes before their conversation, they did have to enjoy their alone time at the compartment, so soon she smiled and began talking again.

"So, about that pink dress, do you really think it doesn't make me look fat? Because I feel it does"

Minutes before arriving at London, Simon Yaxley was knocking impatiently on his sister's compartment. In response to that, a very sleepy and slightly tousled Natalia opened the door, a frown full of displeasure in her face; she had clearly been woken up from her nap. Simon rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we're almost here anyway. Move aside so I can sit for a while"

With a roll of eyes of her own, the girl didn't even have time to do as she was told for her twin just shoved her with his arm and made his way in anyway, waking up Jane in the process, who looked highly confused, the book she had tried to continue reading resting over her chest. Once inside Simon Yaxley began tidying up his things and changed his jacket into a more proper one; one that wouldn't get any scolding from his mother. After, he sat down and closed his eyes and stayed in silence, not even minding all the talking that came from the girls' mouths.

Outside, at the station, Natalia was hugging Jane tightly, because Mr. & Mrs. Abbott were waving at her from a nearby location with warm smiles on their faces. After promising to write to each other each week to keep themselves updated with the other's lives and not before receiving multiple annoyed looks by Simon, the best friends drifted apart.

The Yaxley twins stood next to each other looking for the so familiar picture they had grown used to see: her mother and father side by side standing tall and strong in the crowd, however, as much as they tried they seemed to be unable to find them. What they did see, was their house elf, the youngest one they had, Strinky's daughter, Lula; at such a sight, both twins walked towards the desperate looking elf with a big frown in each of their faces, fearing something rather uneventful may've happened for the elf to be there to encounter them instead of their mother and father.

"Lula? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!" Natalia asked.

At this, the little creature's big purple eyes grew bigger and watery, grabbing her mistress's skirt's hem and sobbing uncontrollably, cleaning her tears with the soft fabric, making both twins look everywhere in embarrassment, making sure no one they knew was looking at them.

"Stop it, stop" Simon ordered in such a voice it reminded Natalia of their mother.

The young elf did as she was told and raised her purple big eyes towards the Yaxley boy.

"Lula is deeply sorry, Master Simon"

Simon rolled his eyes and made a gesture with his hand, indicating the creature to begin explaining.

"Where are our parents, Lula?" he asked.

After a final sobbing, the creature seemed ready to answer.

"Master Bruno and Mistress Petra asked Lula to come and get you, Master Simon, and your sister. Lula tried finding you as soon as the train stopped but a lot of other wizards came and Lula lost sight of you! Lula is deeply sorry, master If anything had happened to my masters I would've never forgiven myself!"

"Why did our parents send you? They always come and get us themselves" Natalia said, ignoring most things that came out of the elf's mouth.

The elf sobbed one more time.

"Master Bruno said he had to go and take Lady Delgrange a new owl, for her old one has passed away on its journey from France"

At the mention of Lady Delgrange, also known as her elder brother's soon to be fiancée, Natalia clenched her jaw. She couldn't believe it! Less than a month in England and she was already causing trouble? Her dear father had never failed to pick them up from the station, no matter how much work or arrangements he had going, he always made it on point to meet his children after months of not seeing each other, and now because of that little French witch he was unable to? Unbelievable!

Although Simon didn't see very thrilled with the idea either, he soon dismissed it and grabbed both of his and his sister's luggage. She'd have liked to complain to him, about what had just happened, but she didn't need her twin's anger to add up to her day.

"Alright then, we better get going home"

Before Natalia could say a thing, her brother and the elf grabbed her by the hand and in less than a second they were both back in the green grounds of Yaxley Mannor.

Usually, Natalia would've found the sight of her own home delightful, no matter the time of the year, and she'd have made it inside by running and dancing, with a big smile plastered on her face and forgetting about her luggage for someone else to carry inside for her. She'd adore the smell from her old furniture and the natural darkness her reception hall held. She'd run all the way to the kitchen and meet Strinky there, who would comment on how nice Natalia looked. However, the really recent news that her parents hadn't picked her up because they had been too busy with a stranger was a thought that didn't make it out of her head soon enough; so instead, she walked inside the mannor with a gloomy frown and with her brother by her side.

"I can't believe they've done this" she said while walking towards their dining room

"Enough, Natalia" her brother cut her out.

"Really, they've never done this before! Have we done something awful to them? I don't recall doing anything but being lovely and I-

And she was cut off again, this time by the sudden opening of the double doors that connected that room with their dining room. There, stood their father, both arms open and high, ready to hug his younger cubs, his smile as welcoming as always.

" _Tally_!" he greeted with that happy voice so characteristic of him, one that made everyone around break into a smile, and of course, it didn't fail to do it so that time either, no matter what her previous mood was "Come and give your papa a hug!"

And soon forgetting about the whole previous incident, Natalia half run to her father and hugged him hard, almost making the old wizard stumble on his own steps. "I've missed that happy face of yours terribly" her father confessed as she giggled and told him she had missed him too. The sound of her luggage being dropped carefully in the ground made her remember she had to give her twin some time to hug their father too, so she broke the embrace, walking past both Yaxley men into the dining room.

There, Natalia stood for a few seconds in the doorway, observing everything in front of her. She had missed her own home a terribly lot. The tall and white ceiling, craved with gold; the dark ocher wood and the big long table, one that could fit up to 12 people if needed; everything in that room reminded Natalia of a happy childhood. There were some details in gold here and there, like on the chairs or the table or even the curtains, and three big windows allowed one to see the English grounds the manor held dearly.

The first person she saw there was her brother, Sebastian, who stood up and just as their father had minutes prior, held both his hands open for his little sister to jump into. He made Natalia spin around and giggle, something they had done ever since they were young children, only now Natalia realized she was a bit heavier because he to let her down way sooner than he used to. After some scolding from their mother who claimed they'd get either hurt or break something, both Yaxley kids stopped to soon look at each other face's while chuckling.

Sebastian looked a lot like Simon and herself, only six years older and a few shades darker, his skin slightly more golden than his younger siblings'. He had the same wavy golden hair their brother had, which was wilder than any of the twins's, and his smile was just as large. He was just over the age of twenty three, having graduated Hogwarts before his younger siblings even began.

"Look at you! You haven't grown much, now have you?" he teased his sister while messing up her own hair, which curls she held on a black hairband.

She laughed at her brother's old antics and slapped his hand away, making him chuckle too. He was perhaps the only person who could attempt to mess up with her hair that wouldn't receive a hexing as an answer.

"Well, for your information, I've grown one centimeter since I last saw you in summer. On the other hand, I believe you've grown on the sides" she cheekily said, making her brother burst into laughter.

When laughter died down he proceeded to hug his sister one more time; this time calmer, and tenderer. He kissed the top of her head before letting her know he had missed her. It wasn't a secret that out of all people in the house, Sebastian had always favored his sister even since a young age when he had been told he'd be becoming an older brother, and when both at home, they kept each other company.

When they broke apart, her mother was standing right next to them, and Simon was breaking his way into the room to be greeted by Sebastian on a less effusive and way more brutish way boys often tended to use among themselves.

"Hello, mother" Natalia said with half a smile, kissing her cheek with care.

"Hello, Natalia" the tall woman greeted as well, kissing hers. It always surprised Natalia how soft her mother could be when kissing someone on the cheek, for she was harsh in everything else "I'm pleased you seem to be doing better at school"

To that, the young witch felt the urge to flitch at, but was strong enough not to do it so since it'd surely raise some concern into the dark skinned witch.

"I'm glad you're pleased, mother." 

"As you should be" the woman said.

Before Natalia could ask Petra about her grandparents and when their arrival would be taking place, her father had tapped on her shoulder to gain her attention back.

"Natalia, Simon, there's someone here you should finally meet. Wouldn't you think so?"

Then, Natalia finally saw her and remembered she was the reason why her parents hadn't been there picking her up from the station, and that made her blood boil in anger. The French witch was short, almost on the same level as Natalia; she had dark chocolate wavy hair, big eyes on the same hue and fair skin, one that could only match Mr. Yaxley's, and her smile was small but present.

"Children, this is Eponine, soon to be the newest Yaxley acquisition" he chuckled "Here dear, get closer, they don't bite"

The girl smiled softly as she did what was told, walking towards the twins. She was so slow on her walk Natalia definitely didn't have it coming when the tiny French hugged her and kissed both of her cheeks, soon to follow and do the exact same with her twin, who was just as surprised by the confident act.

"I am so excited to meet you!" She said in one of the thickets French accent Natalia had ever heard "Your brother has told me so much about you"

The blonde girl looked behind the girl only to encounter Sebastian's eyes, and she tried to figure out what to make out of the situation, to see what his opinion of her was, but his brother's eyes were glued to the floor instead, looking utterly bored.

"Natali, we're going to have so much fun together. We will be like sisters" she said, big brown eyes glued to Natalia's.

"It's Natalia" she corrected.

"Yes, yes, Natali"

She fought really hard against her need to roll her eyes and correct her again, for she knew her mother was watching closely and she didn't want to start her break with a big argument that would result on her being defeated. Instead she nodded and soon walked away from the small circle of people that had formed, linking arms with her elder brother and forcing him to walk with her.

"Here, I have been notified you got me presents. I'd very much like to see them"

Sebastian chuckled, very familiar with her sister's antics and both walked upstairs to his chambers, where he kept a big package full of French and Italians items he had bought for his sister during his last trip there; leaving the remaining Yaxley teenage by himself with the company and questions of his parents and soon to be, sister in law, feeling absolutely miserable.

* * *

The room was in such a state of silence that one could hear Matilda's soft purring, the clock's ticking and Natalia's mild snore without even trying. The pink walls alongside with the white ceiling and the warm the room kept made it a delightful place for a girl to be at during a winter morning. Natalia had fallen asleep at eleven thirty at night, giving herself enough time to write on her diary after having some hot chocolate Strinky had been sweet enough to get up to her room after dinner time; she had thought she'd have enough time to sleep until close to eleven am the next day and then have a peaceful relaxing day giving herself some mud facials and receiving some massages, but Merlin had she been wrong.

Natalia was woken up by the feeling of someone shaking her shoulders and calling her name. In fact, the movement was such that it had woken up Matilda as well, who was sleeping at the end of the bed. Before the Yaxley heiress could open her eyes, she tried turning over, hoping that whatever was disturbing her would fade away with that simple movement, but without any luck in the matter. If anything, the voice calling for her had gotten louder.

"Ugh, what is it!?" She yelled in annoyance, finally sitting up with her hands supporting her body against the awfully comfortable matters. She still had her eye mask on so she was unable to see which one of her elves she should start yelling at and when she did take it off she saw Lula's big scared eyes facing her and her anger dropped, feeling bad for scaring her, knowing she was probably following someone else's orders. She sighed "What is it, Lula?"

"Lula is sorry, Mistress. Lula knows mistress Natalia does not like being woken up, especially not on this day; Lula understands"

Natalia rolled her eyes, not counting with enough patience to listen to the elf's regular babbling, so with a quick hand movement she managed to make Lula quiet again.

"That'd be enough, Lula. Why are you here then?"

"Master Bruno told Lula he had told Mistress Natalia that she was supposed to accompany Lady Eponine for shopping today, and that Mistress Natalia had to leave very early to do so"

Natalia was sure that if applied a little more pressure, her jaw would've exploded. The confusion from just waking up long gone, all left in the girl's mind was anger and incredulity. Had that French twat not only ruined her Holidays at Romania, provoked her parent's absence from the platform but also ruined her perfect free relaxing morning? She looked through her mind for something to use against her but she found nothing that wouldn't send her straight into Azkaban or a good scold from her mother at the very least.

With a groan and a roll of eyes, Natalia got out of bed, putting on her fluffy pink slippers and yawning on the process; Lulu watching her every move, expecting the young teen to throw a fit at any minute now. Standing in front of her mirror she looked at her reflection and noticed how messy her hair was in the mornings, her curls so small that they tangled one with another.

"What do you think there is for breakfast?" she asked with a sigh, not taking her eyes off her reflection.

"Lulu's mother made some kedgeree. Master Bruno's favourite"

Natalia hummed a response while brushed her hair quickly with her fingers, still looking at her reflection, every single minor detail the canvas that was her body and face had to offer.

"Are there ANY prawns?" 

"Yes, mistress!"

"I like prawns"

"Lula knows, mistress Tally! I do know! Strinky also knows! That's why she always adds them"

Natalia nodded, not really paying attention to the elf. She was still debating about what her attitude should be like once she decided to climb downstairs; should she act as if nothing that girl had done bothered her? For the sake of her brother and her own sanity, of course, or should she instead give her the cold shoulder? So she would know what her place in that house was. She sighed and guessed she could decide that later, when getting down the stairs. In the meantime, she'd get herself ready for breakfast.

"Come on, Lula. You can braid my hair if you wish"

Of course, the answer she got from the small elf was of pure glee.

If there was one feeling Natalia was a stranger to, it was to feeling out of place. During her whole life she had been educated to do exactly the opposite thing, and she had been great at it, in all honesty. But when she came down the stairs and saw the glare her soon to be sister in law threw her and what said girl was already wearing, she suddenly felt struck by the feeling.

It had always been the norm at her house that she would descend from her chambers to have breakfast on her pink, warm, winter nightgown; which in contrast with her pretty slip dresses she chose to wear during summer could be sensed for some as childish. Ever since she was little she had never cared to put much effort on her clothing before 11 a.m. if not leaving the house, after all she was a messy eater and chances were that she'd probably ruin her robes if she did chose to use them; her brothers had done the same, and she guessed that was the reason why her mother had never commented on it.

However, the minute she laid eyes on Eponine she noticed how the French witch was dressed in what seemed to be some of her nicest robes, without mentioning the fact that her straight hair looked flawlessly combed and her face seemed like the face one who got a good nice sleep would have the next morning and that all contrasted very much against Natalia's own semblance.

"Good morning, Natali" she said either way, still looking at the blonde witch's choice of outfit the same way Natalia would look at other witches' clothes at Hogwarts "What is wrong with your hair?" she asked innocently but Natalia knew that act far too well, being a master in it.

It was decided then. They'd be both playing the same game.

"Good morning papa" she said while she went on to kiss her father on the cheek, ignoring the other girl's question.

"Morning, Tally"

"Good morning mother" she nodded on her direction "Good morning, Bastian" she said, softly resting her hand over her brother's left shoulder while he muttered something in return at the same time a toast entered his mouth, resting his hand over hers briefly " _Oh, hi Eponine_ " was casually let out along with a bright smile, occupying her seat next to her brother

"I believe Eponine asked you a question, Natalia" her mother reminded her, carefully brining a spoon full of rice to her mouth. It wasn't a secret that Petra disapproved of any opportunity in which her daughter didn't look as polish as herself, no matter the time; the French witch commenting on it only gave her a perfect excuse to comment on it.

"Ah, yes, I'm awfully sorry. It is just that sometimes I find myself unable to understand you, dear!" she apologized while resting her hand on tops of the brunette sitting in front of her who seemed clearly annoyed "It must be your accent, I'm afraid. But be sure I'll try to pay more attention to your words next time"

That of course was a big fat lie. Yes, the witch's accent was thicker than most she had heard, but so was her mother's Romanian one and Natalia had never had any trouble understanding her; but was she really at blame there for pulling that little stunt? The French twat was obviously trying to ruin her break! (and life) it was simply natural she got to be a little bit mean in return.

"That's nice of you, Tally" her father said with honesty, bright blue eyes shining while the soft words came out of his mouth. He was awfully proud of having such a kind hearted daughter, he believed his wife and him had done a wonderful job when raising their three kids.

"Where are the prawns?" Natalia asked while looking at the hot plate resting in front of her "Mine doesn't seem to have any!"

His brother swallowed a big bump of rice before answering, almost short of breath from the small action.

"Eponine is allergic to sea food"

Natalia's blue eyes drifted towards the brunette who smiled sweetly; soon the blonde witch imitated her, although that one smile could've given children nightmares. Bruno Yaxley nodded sadly, also a big fan of his prawns.

"I see"

She ate in silence after that. Kedgeree without prawns was equivalent to dumb boring rice; she hated it! She took, however, that moment to observe with care the person who would soon be borrowing her own last name; for what she could see, Eponine was quiet, her eyes following everything her brother and father said, but just as Petra Yaxley did, she kept silent. Natalia thought she was boring, and evil, and couldn't comprehend how her brother, one of the most fun loving people on earth, would end up with such a witch like that one.

"Where is Simon?" she asked. Not talking was killing her, and since her father and brother often used breakfast to talk among themselves about politics and things she did neither understand or care about, and she didn't find any pleasure from talking to the other two woman present, she needed her twin.

"Your brother is resting" her mother replied, her eyes softening for a second at the thought of her son "Merlin knows he needs it…"

Natalia's eyes went wide immediately, clearly something in that statement making her angry.

"How does he get to sleep in but I don't!" she cried.

As it was to be expected, her mother threw her a deadly stare, any softness gone from those dark eyes. Yes, Natalia should remember she wasn't at Hogwarts anymore.

"That's because your bother has been working hard in all three, School, Quidditch and extra matters while you made the compromise to Eponine to go with her for robes for the ball"

That was enough to quiet her up and keep her with a sour face for the rest of breakfast. She would have liked to say that she hadn't made any compromises because it really had been all work of her father, but Petra Yaxley scared her.

The streets of Diagon Alley were overflowing with cheerful faces, melodious giggles and an aura that could've put the grumpiest wizard on a good mood. It seemed to be official: Yule was just around the corner. The mistletoe hanging over doors, some bits of snows over the roofs and the smell of pastries seemed to create quite a lovely picture. The only thing that appeared to be out of place with such nice scenery were the faces of Natalia Yaxley and Eponine Delgrange, so sour they could've made children cry.

It had been exactly twenty minutes since the two witches and Strinky had travelled by floo to the magical neighborhood. The old elf had of course excused itself to get some ingredients for her famous pudding and to leave both soon to be sisters in law to have some quality time together. Natalia and Eponine had been wondering around shops without the exchanging of any words. Natalia was annoyed at having to spend time with the other witch on what should've been a peaceful fun day, while Eponine claimed that British shops weren't quite as plentiful or beautiful as the French ones, thing for which she was displeased.

"Well, you should've looked for clothes in Paris then instead of leaving it for last minute. Wouldn't you agree?" Natalia said with a smile which she suspected wouldn't look as convincing as they usually did. Merlin knew her voice was already too acute, just like every time she was annoyed at someone.

"Yes, but your father said I should wait for you" she said in what Natalia thought was the most annoying and ugliest French accent ever. as she guided herself into another store.

Once inside the brunette went straight to the gowns while Natalia browsed at the exact opposite side of the room, she truly wasn't looking for anything in particular; she just wanted to keep her mind occupied so she wouldn't curse her soon to be new sister. When the other girl got into one of the changing rooms with the dressmaker Natalia thought about all the things that girl had done to her in such a short amount of time which featured making shopping for clothes tedious (something she didn't believe was possible), and those were enough reasons to get out of the store for a bit of fresh air. Of course it wouldn't kill Eponine to be by herself for a while; and her parents didn't need to know if they accidently were away from each other

So with a decided pace Natalia walked happily towards Florean Fortescue, her very favourite place in the whole of Diagon Alley. The sound the bell made when she opened the door could be described as nothing else but divine. She walked out the door minutes later with a big smile plastered on her face and an even bigger vanilla ice cream scoop. Every time she took a taste out of that ice cream the memory of Eponine seemed to fly further and further away.

And suddenly she stopped eating without even thinking about it. She was looking right into the eyes of the very one person that could ruin her mood- apart from the girl she had just escaped from, that was.

"Doing some shopping, Yaxley?" Sirius Black asked.

She seriously wished her skin had been darker at the moment for she was sure the pinkness from her cheeks was showing. She wasn't quite sure why that was the immediate reaction her body decided to make after such a sudden situation but she definitely wasn't happy about it.

Sirius Black chuckled for what she thought was the first time ever since they began Hogwarts. She was used to hearing Black snickering or laughing with his friends, but a nice, good natured chuckle? She didn't think so.

"Um… I- I was… I was getting some ice cream"

He laughed.

"Clearly"

And that same smart arse attitude was what made Natalia realize she was talking to no one else but the same cocky, stupid Gryffindor with whom she happened to have an unspoken pact with and to whom she was only supposed to be civil instead of friendly.

"And what are you doing here?" she said while crossing her arms as she rose and eyebrow.

He shrugged while taking a few steps further.

"Doing some Yule shopping, as everyone else. We're also getting your brother and his wife a present"

"She's not his wife" she corrected.

"But she will be soon"

At that Natalia rolled her eyes. She didn't need to be reminded of that evil French brat becoming part of her family in the near future, especially not by Sirius Black.

Sirius smiled, slowly at first but then widely for he was realizing something. The amusement on his face was visible from miles away.

"You don't like her"

His statement seemed to make him amused, for some strange reason while Natalia seriously couldn't find what was funny about the whole situation. Having to share last name with an evil spawn was a subject worth crying about.

"No, I don't. Why is that so important? I don't like half the people who goes to school with us; you included" 

He laughed, the corner of his eyes wrinkling a little.

"True, but you won't have to share Christmas with any of us; or Holidays; or relatives" he said while giggling.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes, trying to remind herself why she was trying to be decent around such an unbearable boy. She opened her mouth to say something back but then remembered she was supposed to get along with him so he would continue helping her with Transfigurations, so she simply turned around and began walking away from him, focusing on her so precious ice cream. Sirius, being Sirius, of course followed, catching up with her with no trouble, his hair flowing behind him.

"Oi, come on, Yaxley. I was only joking" he hurried, still a trace of laughter on his voice "What is It that bothers you from her anyway?"

After hearing the question she stopped walking and turned her face to the side so she could look at him. True, it was Sirius Black who she was talking to, but honestly, it was the first person who had cared to ask what her opinion on Eponine was and she'd usually tell Jane but she was too far away and she really needed to tell someone.

She sighed and then began whining without even taking time to breathe, something Sirius found impressive.

"She's just this unpleasant human being. She's a spoilt, arrogant, offensive and obnoxious person. And her voice is very annoying as well"

"It reminds me of someone" he said under his breath, not meaning to offend her, just finding the description really funny given the person who's mouth it was coming from. However, the comment was unheard by the girl.

"And she is awfully rude too! Just this morning she managed to get my prawns out of the menu, and they are mine and my papa's favourite and also made fun of my hair"

Sirius frowned

"Why would she make fun of your hair?" he said while looking at her.

"Because look!" she said while pointing at her braids "see?"

To be frankly honest, Sirius couldn't see anything wrong with Natalia's hair. Sure, it was a little bit messy but he guessed it had to do with the fact it was really curly. If it had been any other person, Sirius would've dared to say it looked cute. But what could he say?

And for what seemed the first time in ages, he was relieved to see his brother approaching from nearby. Regulus yelled for his name while moving closer and closer to the pair, making the blonde witch notice him as well.

"Hi, Regulus" she said, once he was close enough to hear her.

"Hey"

They both kind of tight smiled at each other, in a really weird kind of way. They had really never shared more than a few words with each other, and the boy was still having a hard time trying to put behind that very forced conversation they had shared during the Halloween gathering, but the witch had already forgotten all about it. Natalia thought he seemed adorable, however; too young to be considered anything else beyond that. Regulus? Didn't think of her to be anything close to adorable, but he wasn't about to mention that.

"Mother is asking for you"

Sirius rolled his eyes and gave a nod.

"Tell her I'll be there in a minute"

"She sent me here for you" 

He rolled his eyes again and then directed his attention towards the blonde witch once more.

"I guess I'll see you around, Yaxley."

"I guess you will, Black. Please don't make a fool of yourself dancing tomorrow"

"I don't dance"

"But you could"

And then he looked at her, really looked at her, as if she were a really difficult puzzle he was trying to solve and she realized that and that made her whole face turn crimson bright. He laughed at that and after taking a look at his clearly uncomfortable younger brother, he left with a nod while trotting.

Luckily for Natalia, she didn't get a lot of time to think about what that look had meant because Eponine found her sooner than expected, a really grumpy expression on her face she knew she had coming. She guessed she preferred Black's company over hers.

"I simply adore the fabric!" Natalia smiled widely while touching the material with the tips of her fingers, careful not to stain it "It must have cost you thousands of galleons, am I not right, Mrs. Malfoy?"

It seemed apparent that despite the slight flush of pink resting on Narcissa Malfoy's cheeks, the question did nothing else but brighten her mood. The young adult smiled, clearly pleased with the words coming from the younger witch.

"You are indeed, darling"

"Yes, I think I've got quite an eye for smart robes and yours, Mrs. Malfoy, never fail to amaze me. Your wedding dress last year was nothing else but delightful. I spend the whole season talking about it with my friends"

Narcissa Malfoy was in heaven, anyone who took a look of her smile after the teenager said those words would have been able to see that. It wasn't that she was a stranger to compliments; she knew she made a handsome looking young woman and that her robes were more often than not, stunning thanks to her polished taste and good amount of galleons on her vaults. The problem laid in that ever since her wedding, she had spent more of her days secluded from the rest of the magical community, relaying on her husband, inside their manor, it the hopes of producing and heir, without any luck for the moment. She missed being noticed by other people rather than just her husband or immediate family.

"You're simply too sweet" the witch smiled pleased, while resting a hand over the youngest's shoulder "So, which year are you in Hogwarts? I can't quite remember, dear"

"I'm in sixth year, Mrs. Malfoy"

"Narcissa, please" she corrected kindly "Ah, so you must know my cousins, Sirius and Regulus" 

"Indeed. Sirius and I are Transfigurations partners" 

"Well, he is a lucky boy, let me tell you. You seem really smart." She let out "I apologize in advance, by the way, I know he is not the easiest of people sometimes" she said with a roll of eyes.

Natalia giggled, a little bit unsure if she should correct Narcissa and tell her that her cousin was actually the smartest one among the two of them, but she decided to go with it, not really wanting to tell otherwise to the only person who found her to be smart.

"Oh, I manage just fine. I didn't get to see him at dinner, though"

"Ah, that's because they sat just at the other end of the room. In fact, I think I can hear aunt Walburga's voice. Here, let's go find them" She offered her arm for the younger girl to take a hold.

Natalia was simply asking out of curiosity, to make conversation, she sure enough wasn't hoping for Narcissa Malfoy to actually take her to find her former enemy and no longer hated classmate. However, she knew how to behave in front of people like Narcissa, so she just smiled and went along with it, hoping she could intercept anyone from her family or group of friends and be able to escape meeting Sirius Black.

Of course she was unlucky.

Standing near the fireplace, it seemed as if the entire Black family was chatting to the people nearby, or at least the parents were. Regulus and Sirius stood side by side without any exchange of nor words or looks shared among one another, both seeming to find much more interest inside their minds than out in the party. Natalia noticed for the first time how much physically alike the two siblings were, the differences being less than the ones she held with her own twin. They were both slim, what in boys' world could be considered as petite in comparison to some other guys at school who had backs that went as wide as Hogwarts's gates; Natalia preferred boys she associated herself with not to be as big for if they were she felt like a child next to them. It was also undeniable that the Black boys were as handsome as they came and Natalia immediately regretted thinking about it as she walked towards them, not her brightest move since she tended to flush quite a lot when in company of him, or so she had been proving to do lately.

As her face was lighting on fire, the youngest of the Black siblings lifted his head, and so did his mother who seemed invested in a conversation with Lucius Malfoy. Soon enough, Sirius and his father, too, were observing her and Narcissa Malfoy as they made their way towards the group.

"Uncle Orion, Aunt Walburga" the young woman said as she gracefully walked over them and placed her hand over their shoulders.

After greeting her family once again, for she had done it before dinner, Narcissa Malfoy stood next to her husband, skillfully linking her arm with his as if it was just a natural ability one acquired through marriage.

"I hope you all four enjoyed dinner." She said with genuineness "I know you're not fond of chicken Reggie, so I made the elves prepare the beef for you" she said while smiling with complicity towards her younger cousin

He smiled, clearly amused.

"I thought that may have been you, cousin. Thank you"

And although Sirius had noticed Natalia the minute she had arrived next to his cousin, observing her every move as if trying to decide what to make out of her, it wasn't until then that the rest of the family seemed to be aware of her presence.

"Oh, I'm sure you know Bruno and Petra's daughter, Natalia" Narcissa said casually.

"Indeed, we just had a chat with both of them" Orion replied.

"Of course I do! You look rather lovely, my child." Walburga told the teen while taking a few steps closer to her frame "I have seen Petra's children grow ever since they were young, charming individuals, all of them" she told the rest "Your parents must be proud to have such a well-polished child as you"

Natalia of course smiled, highly pleased with the choice of words that were being used to describe her. Sirius on the other hand couldn't help but roll his eyes; his mother surely was a sucker for anything pureblooded and with a good last name; he could only hope his classmate's head wouldn't get too big after such words for she already had a big enough ego as it was.

"Thank you, Mrs. Black. I haven't seen you since the Carrow's wedding from last summer!"

"Yes, that's a shame. I've met your parents recently; we had dinner at their manor about thirty days ago."

"I'm aware. Father mentioned it in one of his letters. Both my father and mother are really fond of you and Mr. Black"

Walburga smiled widely at the idea, flushing her pale cheeks with pink quickly, whereas Orion Black simply smiled pleased, giving the Yaxley girl a nod. Saying that the Black matriarch thought highly of Petra and Bruno Yaxley would be an understatement; for Walburga Black there were few families who deserved equal treatment as her own, but the Yaxleys were the epitome of a good, noble pureblood house and over the years, ever since medieval times, they had gained the Black's approval and favour.

"What a delightful young witch you are!" Mrs. Black said with the biggest of smiles plastered on her face. She simply couldn't help herself when she got to interact with polite young people.

"I believe it to be that way too, aunt Walburga" Narcissa, who had blended in with her husband, added, smiling at the young girl "Wouldn't you think it'd be most divine if Regulus took her out for a dance?"

Said proposal couldn't have gotten more mixed reactions than it did. Mrs. Black was charmed with the idea, and she made it evident by joining both her hands together and smiling widely, while her face lit up as if a lumos spell had been casted.

"What a wonderful idea! Yes, definitely! Sirius, hold your brother's cup while he goes for a dance"

Both Black brothers looked at their mother as if she was a permanent resident of St. Mungos'. Natalia however kept her characteristic smile plastered on her face, little Black wasn't too bad on her opinion and that'd keep her from talking to the Black who she was worried to be around with. Although everyone in the circle of people seemed eager to voice out their opinions, it was Mr. Black the one to do so first, and he did that referring to his wife only: "Dear, don't you think perhaps Sirius should make the honors? After all, they're both in the same year"

It wasn't that Orion Black was oblivious to the fact that his older son had some behavior issues and didn't seem too fond of their social circle, but he hoped that perhaps, with the company of the right witch, he could make an improvement. His whole Gryffindor rebelliousness a stage they'd soon leave in the past, with some help. Mrs. Black on the other hand, seemed ready to hex her husband until dead would do them apart and that was pretty easy to notice by the way her dark blue eyes stared intensely into him.

"Well, I'm sure Natalia will enjoy more of Regulus' company. They're both in the same house and share common friends and-

"Actually, Yaxley and I get along just fine, mother" Sirius said, a tight smile plastered on his face "Will you do me the honors?" he handed the young girl his hand, remembering and making use of every single etiquette rule his parents sometimes tended to think he was a stranger to.

Natalia had a hard time trying to close her mouth, but she really didn't know what to say. Deciding it was best not to talk, because that could make her say something stupid, she just slowly set her hand over his and was surprised to see both his really pale tone and her more tanned hues mixed well. She managed to produce a small timid smile, really unlike her person, and after giving a small nod to the rest of the perplexed Black members both teens walked to the dance floor.

There were just a few couples dancing here and there, since it was just early in the night and most people had just finished with their dinner and were making conversation with others. Natalia was able to spot one wimpy fourth year girl dancing with an even whimper seventh year boy who she believed was Dolores Nott's cousin, both looking terribly uncomfortable under each other's presence; a bit further away she was able to notice Anilius and her soon to be husband, Tobias Fawley moving along to the melody playing, both looking fairly happy if you must; Natalia thought really lucky.

Sirius Black however hadn't said anything since his sort of invitation to dance so she hadn't either. They began moving too, his hands not quite reaching yet the low of her back, perhaps a few centimeters over; hers were holding both of his shoulders with delicacy. They really had no more alternatives than to look at each other's faces, being at a relatively small length from each other, so they did that, being careful not to stare at the other's eyes for too long for it may become a weird.

"Why-

"So how-

Both began talking and shut up at the same time, the awkwardness palpable. Sirius however snickered and by that action Natalia did too, although all she wanted to do was to save herself the embarrassment and go look for her brother so she wouldn't have to make a fool of herself for another second.

"Sorry, I wanted to know whereas why you told your mother you'd dance with me."

He smiled petulantly.

"Simple. To save you from the misery of having to do it with my brother"

She snorted.

"I can tell you your brother is way easier to deal with than you are, in case you're unaware of it. And he must make enough of a good dancer"

He rolled his eyes and smiled.

"You're right. You'd both talk about the same rubbish until your mouths go dry"

That was a lie. Although Sirius had no doubt his little brother probably agreed with Yaxley with every single important belief there was in their society, he could sense the two of them were two very different subjects of one specie; while Yaxley enjoyed talking about who was wearing the ugliest dress at the party, Regulus would probably prefer discussing the importance of the latest book he read- either case, Sirius found both their preferences of conversation utterly boring.

Upon seeing the reaction his words got from the girl, he rolled his eyes and decided to explain his actual reasoning of why to take her for a dance, not wanting to suffer from another of the Yaxley girl's fits since he had confirmed they were rather painful and dramatic.

"I just knew it would drive my mother mad if it was me the one taking you instead of her beloved Regulus"

"Why?"

"Because I'll be likely to embarrass her and make you hate me whereas he'd make a great impression of the Black family"

Natalia nodded in understatement, the whole thing making sense and not offensive to her person at all, unlike what she was expecting. Yes, she was a little bit afraid he had just done it as part of some joke or bet, or whatever boys did those days to embarrass girls; him wanting to screw his family was far out a better option and completely harmless to herself.

"Well, she is no wrong with the first part. You do get me utterly annoyed most of the times"

"And what about the other times?" he asked cheekily, as if forgetting to whom he was talking to, making her turn around her own body just to be staring at her face again after.

She looked at him in the eyes, clearly amused by his question and daring move, trying to come up with a correct answer because to be honest, she had no idea and she had been trying to figure it out ever since the night spent at Hagrid's cottage.

"I'll let you know when I find out"

He didn't really react at first, making her think she'd probably said the wrong thing, not cool enough, but after seeing him smile widely she was dead sure her answer could've been too bad.

They kept talking, arguing and laughing under Walburga Black's close watch until the piece playing was finished; that had been exactly six complete minutes. Sirius was seriously considering sticking with Natalia as his dance partner for the next song or so, since he was sure if not, he'd have to either spend time with his family or with some other unpleasant wizard or witch present at the party; but that suddenly wasn't an option anymore after Simon Yaxley touched his elbow and demanded for the next dance. Natalia gave him a small smile and soon grabbed her brother's arm and drifted away.

For the rest of the party Sirius Black tried regaining Natalia Yaxley's attention, since she seemed to be the only person at the party he could surprisingly tolerate, but every time he seemed to be close enough to begin a conversation with her, Simon Yaxley was right next to her, like a dementor guarding over a prisoner while she'd chat to some other people from school. It wasn't that he was scared of the Slytherin boy, no matter how much bigger his physic was, but he simply didn't want people thinking he wanted anything to do with her when there wasn't a solid reason behind it.

It was fair to say Sirius's boredom got as big as it did after the first year Andromeda stopped attending those parties, because she had chosen to become a blood traitor, according to his family, therefor she had been vanished from all social event as such, vanishing at the same time, what used to be Sirius' only source of entertainment.

Luckily, the Blacks had to leave sooner than others because his father wasn't feeling too good. Sirius wasn't complaining about missing the last dreading hour of that party. Just before he set his foot inside the chimney, he caught a glance of Natalia once again; she was standing next to two other Slytherins whose' faces he was unable to see since they were standing with their backs facing him, and they all seemed to be laughing and acting all carefree. He also noticed that although he thought Yaxley's pink dress was somehow over the top, she was the prettier out of the three of them and probably, the pretties out of the whole room too; he then fell in account that that could be the reason why she was so shallow, her beauty. Yes, she was a Slytherin and she was racist and all that, but even he could admit that she was handsome and he tried his best not to feel weird for even thinking about it.

Once he was back at Grimmauld Place, he realized his mother was trying to have a word with him, and whatever the reason for that was, he knew he wanted to avoid it. Quickly, Sirius made his way upstairs and closed her bedroom door firmly, got himself into bed, trying to put aside all the thoughts that flew freely around his mind: he believed to be in big trouble.

On Saturday, when he had encountered her at Diagon Alley he hadn't even thought of walking away, but was instead drawled towards her because after what happened on Friday, when she had found him on his animal form and had cared for him; he no longer doubted there was more on her person than what she allowed to be shown, he knew it for sure. The sort of kindness she had shown, the way she had soothed him and talked to him, that was something Sirius had only experience from a very short number of people.

On top of all that, he had spent every minute free at the ball chasing after her. It was indeed partly because she was the only person at the party he could tolerate, but his curiosity played a big part on it too. Not to mention, he left the party admitting she was pretty, and he knew that could not be good at all.

He was unable to close his eyes until late into the night.


	13. chapter 13

_**Don't own Harry Potter.**_

 _When I look at you, I see forgiveness_  
 _I see the truth_  
 _You love me for who I am_  
 _Like the stars hold the moon_  
 _Right there where they belong_  
 _And I know I'm not alone_

"Merry Christmas to youuuu" Natalia sang while holding an orange ball of fur with both her arms, making it spin around and around only to have it rest at the safety of her arms in the end, holding it just like a baby " _Yes, Matilda_ , It's finally Christmas! I can't wait for you to see your presents! You've been a very good kitten this past year" she said while kissing the cat in the head, finally leaving it to rest in her bed.

Christmas morning was the only time of the year in which Natalia Yaxley would get up early willingly, natural, since her excitement wouldn't allow her to sleep past seven o'clock. Ever since she was young, she had made it on point to be the first one in the whole manor to open her eyes and get out of bed, jumping and dancing and moving around her room until it was wise to wake everyone else up. She'd usually get Simon up too just a few minutes after she did, since his chambers where the closest to hers and he was a light sleeper; she would've done it too during the Christmas of her sixth year, but it was commanded by her mother not to do so- apparently her brother had had a long night talking to some very important people and he deserved to rest; Natalia thought that was rubbish, It was Christmas, who cared how tired he was? But, she didn't want to create an argument with her mother, especially not on Christmas morning.

So she woke up at six thirty a.m, knowing well enough that after the previous night's party no person in the house would dare to open an eye before eight. She tried reading a book as a form of entertainment but later on decided it wouldn't do, so instead she used her free time to write to her best friend, who she missed dearly.

While pureblood and a very old family, the Abbotts preferred to keep to themselves and a few other families who they considered their friends, ignoring such things as purebloods social events if they could help it.

" _Dear Jane_

 _How much I miss you! And I've got so much to tell you, but first of all, let me start by saying, well, writing: Merry Christmas! I hope you got many beautiful presents and even if you didn't, I'm sure you'll love the one I'm sending you! Isn't it adorable? I know I got your size right for that one._

 _I must also tell you a secret: Sebastian is marrying an utter pain in the arse. I'm not being dramatic, I swear to Merlin, but I do believe her to be the most unlikeable person in all the wizarding community. I'll tell you more about this entire thing at the express._

 _I still don't know what I have received, I'm afraid It will be at least an hour until I find out; that, if I'm lucky. I surely hope papa remembered what I asked for at the beginning of the year. I, however, did remember what everyone wanted and I'm positive they'll all be more than delighted with their presents. I even got Eponine something, am I not marvelous?_

 _The ball was good and something really interesting happened! I'm not sure about how to feel about that, but I think it's good; or so I hope so. I know you must be dying to know what that is but I'm not telling you via letter._

 _Send my wishes for a merry Christmas to your family too. Have fun in Scotlan!_

 _Love, Natalia_

 _Ps: I need your help. I don't know whether to wear my pink dress or the green one, I like the first one better but I still think it makes me look fat"_

When she was finished, Natalia smiled, spraying the letter with some perfume and folding it into a pretty pink envelope. Then all there was left to do was to attach it to the present and send it with an owl; luckily it wouldn't take more than two hours to arrive since the Abbott family always spent Yule in England, along with the Potters.

She wished dearly that her friend could be with her at her brother's compromise party, but she knew that they'd be leaving after Christmas day to spend New Year's in the Highlands there in Scotland, with the rest of Mrs. Abbotts family who they rarely saw.

Natalia put on her white fluffy bathrobe and slippers and left towards the owlery, which was truly one of her favourite places in the house. It was of course much smaller than the one they had over at Hogwarts, and less crowed too. The presence of the night animals somehow always managed to put Natalia at ease, and when she wanted to spend some time on her own to think about things, she always went there first; of course that only could be done in summer, winter wasn't a good time for long term visits since it was also the coldest room due to the open windows and lack of crystal.

The Yaxley family owned a total of five owls which Natalia took care of with all her heart every time she got to see them, so naturally she got treats for every single one of them that morning, as a sort of Christmas preset. There was Henry, a brown south American who once used to be beautiful and strong, but was already far too old and fat to do anything; he was blind from one eye and it was apparent his second would soon follow into the same destiny; Henry had been Bruno's personal owl many years back and although he wasn't of much help anymore, the man had grown fond of him so he kept it around doing small chores so the bird could be happy. Then there were the twins, Loki and Petulus, both snowy babies, each only six years old; one of them served as Simon's company at Hogwarts while the other one served their father for important matters. At last there was also Sebastian's owl, a twelve year old collared scrop boy named Gus. Juno, the only girl, a beautiful toffee colored tawny owl was supposed to be of help to both Petra and Natalia but was so lazy that didn't do any of those things, fact that the Yaxley matriarch despised but Natalia found incredibly funny; in fact, Petra wanted to get rid of the owl the minute she realized it was of no utility, but the animal had stolen Natalia's heart and with a bit convincing from her father she managed to keep Juno as a permanent resident.

"Easy there, Jun" Natalia said while noticing the defensive attitude the smallest owl had "I won't even ask you to do a thing and you'll still get a treat, isn't that marvelous?" she laughed

And not wanting to have sore fingers on Christmas morning, Natalia did the wisest thing there was to do and left Juno's treats over the window, so the owl could pick it up by itself. For the other ones, she feed each owl by hand, each single one of them seeming to appreciate the fresh mouses the elves had collected for them the previous night under Natalia's orders.

If it hadn't been as cold as that morning was, the blonde Slytherin girl would've surely stayed longer with the birds to chat or perhaps walked towards the stables and see if any of the horses was up for a ride, but she really didn't want to catch the flu with another free week to go; she could wait and be sick at Hogwarts instead. She decided to go down to the kitchens where she wished both of her elves a merry Christmas; thing they happened to wish her too, far too many times (not that she was complaining)

Strinky insisted on making her a cup of hot chocolate before the big family breakfast and Natalia was quick to accept the offer, inviting the elves to have one too, which they didn't think were worthy off but accepted nevertheless.

While waiting for her hot drink she had no other thing left to do but to think about the party, which she thought had been wonderfully hosted, finding Narcissa's touch as a good and very much needed addition to the Malfoys' event. Of course, thinking about the party meant thinking about him… the boy she had confirmed she didn't really like that way only a few days ago, despite the fact they had kissed even before that, when she thought she did have feelings for him. However, whatever happened the previous night didn't mean that she fancied him. She was completely capable of being in good terms with Sirius Black without it meaning she fancied him. Sure, he was good looking with his longish curls and his jaw and his grey eyes and… yes, but that was Sirius, the guy who just made out with girls for fun. She was willing to admit she liked him, however, not in that way, but she found it amusing when they made fun of each other, she figured she wasn't trying to hurt him anymore, she just thought it was funny to see what kind of comeback he'd have for her, kind of like a game. She decided that It could potentially be wise to continue her recently discovered friendship with Black but to keep it to herself, so in casa something were to go wrong, no more people than the necessary should know about it.

By the time her hot chocolate was finished Natalia heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Quickly she got up to encounter however had decided to quit sleeping and joining the fun of Christmas morning with a real Christmas enthusiast. It was not surprise, said person was her brother, Simon, whose messy hair seemed to be worse than ever as he scratched his head lazily. Soon after, seconds before the Yaxley boy lost his patience with his sister's exuberant behavior, the rest of the family joined them, thing he was grateful for.

They were all sitting in their regular places, except for Natalia who stood next to her father impatiently, her stomach starting to make noises from the hunger. True, she had had a hot chocolate, but during the previous night she had barely eaten anything since her dress was already tight enough and didn't want to add more pressure to it and look silly.

"Come on, papa! We've been waiting for ages!" she complained while pulling from the fabric of his sleeves, causing the man to laugh.

"Nonsenses, Tally. It has merely been ten minutes at maximum. I'm sure Eponine will get down anytime from now"

Natalia rolled her eyes

"Speak for yourself; I've been awake since six" she complain while crossing her arms in front of her chest

"As much as it hurts me to admit it, Natalia is right, father. I'm starving" Simon let out.

Bruno Yaxley rolled his eyes playfully at his children, just as he always did. It wasn't a secret that out of the two parents, he was the easy going one who took his kids' silly complaining as something to be laughed about.

"I'm sure she'll be down soon enough and when she does you two can devour the whole table, if you wish"

"Hey, Natalia, that's something you won't find that difficult!" Simon mocked, laughing at his own joke.

That comment caused the beginning of an argument between the girl and her twin; the elder sibling soon joining them, aligning with Natalia; all of that taking place while both Yaxley parents observed the situation with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. On a regular day, Petra Yaxley wouldn't have waited a second to intervene and stop the argument, but since it was Christmas she decided it could just be let it slid if fighting among themselves entertained her children; besides, if she did get to say anything, all she would get would be plenty of reasoning of why one of them was right and the other one wasn't, so in order to save herself a headache, she stood silent. The argument could've gone on and on for hours, just as they usually could, but the entrance of certain French witch a few moments later made them all stop.

"Merry Christmas everyone" she said.

With a quick reply from the three Yaxley blondes and a slightly more elaborated one from their parents, Eponine sat down with the rest of the family. Next thing to happen, a huge amount of food, enough to feed four other families of the same size appeared in front of them with the help of a quick snap from Mr. Yaxley's fingers, who seemed delighted to see the expressions on his family's face.

A simple look at what lied over the large wooden table reminded Natalia one of the reasons why she loved Christmas so much. It wasn't a secret that Natalia enjoyed home cooked food even more than she enjoyed hearing of new gossip. The simply smell of baked potatoes and pumpkin automatically put her on a good mood. The whole food adoring thing was a feature all four born Yaxley people shared; Petra Yaxley being the only exception, who saw food as it was, merely a source of nutrients; eat food to live, not the other way around. As expected, more than half of the food served was gone just after less than fifteen minutes, much to the outsider's surprise. There were a few stains here and there over the two younger's pajamas too.

If Eponine wished to make a comment about the Yaxley family's unhealthy Christmas eating habits, she wasn't given the time to. Sooner than what it took her to finish her chocolate croissant, her soon to be sister in law stood up eagerly, announcing she thought it to be time to open presents. The brunette witch was about to disagree since they hadn't even been sit for more than fifteen minutes, but upon seeing the immediate positive reaction of pretty much everyone else at the table she just decided to swallow her own words; she'd have time to complain about things once she got married, her mother said.

The Yaxley traditionally opened presents in their drawing room. The two parents would sit on the big sofa while the kids would sit on the floor, over the big carpet, just under their huge tree which was often decorated with the most beautiful ornaments which had once belonged to the diseased Mrs. Nora Yaxley, berries and some lights. Since he was soon to be a married man, Sebastian had no other option but to sit on the other sofa, next to his soon to be future wife, as an adult; however, that did not stop him from leaning as forwards as he was able to without falling to spy on the presents before they were unwrapped by his siblings.

"This one's for you, mother" Natalia said handling the elder woman a small package that due to its poorly made wrapping she could only guess it had come from no other but her twin.

Natalia was delighted with all her presents gotten so far, but was still looking for something more: the rubies necklace that had belonged to her great-great-great-great grandmother and that she had asked for on January after her father took her for the first time to the family vaults and saw it resting there over a pile of galleons. It was very simple so Natalia thought it could be easily pulled off with many of her dresses at many different occasions. That and the sentimental value, made it perfect to be her parents' present to her on such a special date.

"Eponine, that one's from us, since you're soon becoming part of our family" her mother had said while Natalia handed the petite box to the brunette, who smiled gratefully while receiving it.

"Thank you, Mrs. and Mr. Yaxley"

Both her parents smiled and nodded to her.

While Simon was too busy looking for his main present, Natalia put all her attention into her soon to be sister in law's present. Whatever she got, it seemed to be important, if one had to be guided by her mother's words. She only hoped it wouldn't' be as important as hers. So she waited and waited while Eponine removed the ribbon carefully, which gave Natalia urges to take the package away from her and do it herself. When she was done and finally opened the package, the blonde girl felt how her mouth opened in awe.

Right there in the hands of the witch she hated the most in the entire world, laid the rubies necklace. Natalia couldn't help but to look at her father and mother and then at the jewelry piece back and forth, over and over, for she hoped they were making an really out of character joke that she could later on complain about and say ' _It wasn't funny'_ ; but no, it appeared like they had actually given that outsider the present _she_ wanted and by right belonged to her, since she was a Yaxley and more importantly, English. It was impossible for her, naturally, to stop her eyes from watering.

Had really her own father forgotten that she had asked for the very same thing they were now giving that stranger? That Christmas could definitely not get worse. She had not only been stolen from her happy Holidays in Romania and her seafood, not to mention she had been forgotten in the train station to have now her worst enemy getting something she really, really wanted with all her heart. She had tried being mature about it all and letting it all slip, only for such a thing to happen as a repayment? Could it be that her family didn't love her anymore? She knew she wasn't perfect but she also was positive that she was better than so many other children out there, that she was good enough for a rubies necklace.

"Ah, Tally" her father said all of the sudden, making her raise her head to face him, trying her hardest not to let him see how teary her eyeballs were because she knew that if he realized she was jealous he'd give her a talk about it in front of everyone, making it painfully humiliating the second Eponine realized that she was feeling jealousy of her "Why don't you open that big one over there?"

And with a nod, because she didn't trust her own voice, she crawled towards the biggest package in the room, with a big frown still on. Whatever it was, she didn't want it; the only thing she wanted from that Christmas was that necklace that was then resting over the some other witch's lap. She didn't even care about how big that package was, there was nothing it could be that she'd like more than she loved that necklace. Her parents were stupid and mean for putting her through such a stupid situation and not remembering or plainly simply ignoring her wishes, or so she thought.

The second she touched the box, she realized it was moving, so all that anger that was filling her thoughts left so curiosity could take the lead. Even the others in the room seemed interested in whatever was inside, her father's enormous smile and the way he kept on shaking his leg up and down told her he was excited to see her reaction, which could only mean good things.

When she removed the wrapping and took off its top off, she had a hard time finding what was inside, but she knew whatever it was, it was alive. How did she know that? Simply because it moved a lot. She looked back to look at her father and confirm whatever was inside there was indeed supposed to move, and he nodded with a big smile, clearly excited to see her reaction. She put one of her hands inside and realize that the black and white creature inside was quite soft, a feeling that she liked, after checking that whatever was inside wasn't going to eat both her arms up, she introduced the second to lift the animal. When she got it out, she lifted it up in the air to take a good look of it.

"You got me a bunny!" she yelled with joy, a giant grin creeping through her face, her old anger and jealousy long forgotten now that she had such an adorable animals in her hands.

She didn't even know or care what the faces of the others in the room must've looked like, because she was fully focused on her new baby. It seemed to be the smallest thing on earth, and also the softest. Its tiny black eyes showed her it was a little bit scared do to the amount of movement it had just received unexpectedly and also because it didn't know Natalia, so she quickly positioned it in such a way she knew it would be comfortable and patting it softly.

"How you like that, Tally?" her father asked.

Quickly, almost forgetting her new pet rabbit needed peace and tranquility, she ran over to her father so she could give him half a hug, since she was holding her present with one of her hands. Her father laughed at her excitement.

"Aw, papa, thank you so so so sooo much!" 

"Well, she's here thanks to you mother's permission" he informed her.

Natalia smiled, knowing that what he wanted her to do was to go and thank her mother too, although she supposed Petra must've had no involvement on her present. However, she smiled and kissed her mother on both cheeks, after expressing a loud 'thank you'

"You are very welcome, Natalia" her mother informed, the closest thing to a smile on her face "You know the rules regarding pets, right? She looks very pretty now she's tiny, but she'll grow and you must remember that"

"Of course mother" Natalia said, her eyes not paying attention to her parents anymore, instead, on the tiny pretty thing resting on her arms "I shall take care of her forever" she smiled, kissing the top of her head "Thank you, thank you, thank you again! I adore this present"

His father smiled, his cheeks pink just as they always got every time he was happy or had too much of a drink, for he was very pale and his emotions showed on his skin.

"I am very glad, Tal. Your brother informed us that you were feeling a bit lonely at school, so we thought this would be a good way to keep you company"

Natalia turned her eyes towards Simon, who was looking at the floor, cheeks slightly pink too. Natalia recalled telling him about her feelings once at the library, but was still surprised he cared enough to their parents, she barely remembered the conversation and had been the one to say it. She smiled, knowing than although he made a great effort to appear inconsiderate and cold towards any living creature most of the time, his brother cared dearly for her, so she did what her heart told her to and went over for a very tight hug, holding him from his back; to this, her twin fought against, but she knew he wasn't annoyed by it because if that were the case, he had enough strength not to even allow her do it; she only giggled at his behavior, just as the rest of the people in the room rolled their eyes and observed with fondness the scene.

"Do you think they'll let me take her to school?" she asked after their pseudo hug was finished, her cheeks slightly pink from the wrestling.

"I don't reckon" said Simon casually, his eyes back on a present from their cousin in law, which he was struggling to open.

"Why not?"

"You already have your cat"

"Yes but-

"And you're only allowed one pet." He responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, finally managing to open his little box only to discover it was a sweater; pretty disappointing thing, that was.

She wrinkled her nose at that, noticing her brother's present from their cousins was just the exact same thing she had received, on a bigger and blue version. When she was about to open her mouth and complain about not being able to bring her baby bunny to school, her father was quicker:

"Ah, nonsense. That school board owes us way too many favours, and money. I'll talk to Abraxas tomorrow first hour; don't worry about it, Tal"

The blonde witch nodded, suddenly losing every ounce of worry there may have existed in her head, because she knew that her father was going to get everything to work out for her, as he usually did. So instead of worrying about silly things, she fixed her attention into her new pet, playing with her and enjoying all the energy that little rabbit held. After her, every time she'd get another present, she simply gave it a short glance and smiled, along with a thank you if the person who gave it to her was there in the room, just to get back to playing with her sweetheart.

"So what are you gonna name her?" Sebastian asked, leaving the spot in the couch next to Eponine so he could kneel over the rug with his sister, caressing the small animal while asking. He was too, fond of animals, as long as they were clean.

"Mmm I was thinking something sweet, because she's sweet. Like Chocolate or… or Vanilla, or… Peaches! Ahh, ,that sounds lovely. Do you like that name?" she asked the animal, who instead of answering just rubbed her tiny head against her palm, making the witch giggle "I think you do"

"Peaches? Ins't that a food?" Eponine asked.

"Yes" Natalia answered, having forgotten she was even there. Ah, the magic of great presents, made you forget unpleasant French witches shared the same house as you did.

"Mmm, that's weird for a rabbit. I never like rabbit, too boring. I do not like cats too. Animals are smelly" 

"Well some humans are smelly too" Natalia snapped back with a happy smile, looking at the French right in the eye "Actually I think your perfume-

"Natalia" her mother's strong voice made her stop talking straight away, catching that very familiar warning tone. That twat Eponine truly got the worse out of her!.

"I was saying that your perfume is really nice. Which one is it?"

Eponine smiled, clueless of the other witch real intentions.

"Well, it is from this…

Natalia really never got to know from where her brother's girl had gotten her strong perfume for she stopped listening to her and began playing with Peaches again with Sebastian until the later was requested to keep Eponine some company, thing he agreed to. Natalia felt bad for her brother, having to spend time with such an evil thing, but there really wasn't anything she could do about it without getting herself into serious trouble, so the only thing left for her to do was go up to her room and introduce her new pet to her old one and pray they two would get along.

She spent the rest of Christmas day playing with Peaches and Matilda while following her twin around the house and ignoring his annoyed glares. She'd usually rather spend her time with Sebastian when she was at home since he was a lot nicer to her than Simon was, and he also was easier to convince when she wanted to play something silly, but she knew that spending time with her elder brother those days was equal to spending time with that French pain in the arse and she was not ruining her own Christmas day by doing something as masochist as that.

"Do you think she'll grow much?" She asked him while lying on her back, holding the tiny puppy up with both her arms.

They were both in the drawing room, next to the fireplace. Dinner would be ready in less than an hour and soon they would declare Christmas finished.

Simon was quite entertained polishing his new broom he had received that very same morning from their parents, along with new leather gloves (which he really needed because his were already four years old). The broom was apparently the fastest there came and it wasn't even out in the market yet and wouldn't be for another three months, but their father had some friends at the international confederation of Wizard's Quidditch committee and they owed him some big favors. The teenager had been quite surprised when he opened the package and found such an item, but his parents reassured him he deserved it after all his hard work lately, and he couldn't argue with that.

"Don't know, don't care"

She rolled her eyes and placed the bunny down, so she could hop a bit around, now that she was starting to get comfortable with her new home. Natalia instead, rolled over to her side and placed one hand over her waist to look threatening; if her twin had actually paid any attention to her, he would have rolled his eyes at her too.

"You shouldn't be rude to me on Christmas day"

"And you shouldn't be annoying me"

"I'm not annoying anyone. I'm simply keeping you some company because lately you've been very lonely"

He rolled his eyes, still not taking them off the broom.

"I'm not lonely"

"Yes you are" she replied quickly "Like, last year you were always at parties and doing things with your friends now all you do is Quidditch then reading and then going to those silly meetings"

"They're not silly meetings"

"Well, I wouldn't know since I've never been invited to one but you're in them so they must be stupid" 

"They aren't"

"Yes they are"

"aren't"

"are"

And it was clear the conversation was meant to go on and on for several minutes with the repetition of the same words, but a tap on the window made both blondes look up. Outside, in the snow, a medium sized grey old was waiting for them to open up the window for it while holding a small package. Quickly, as soon as they got out of their primary confusion, Natalia stood up to go and open up the window so the bird could fly gracefully inside the room and get some rest.

"Poor little thing" she muttered while closing it again, trying to prevent the coldness from outside to enter the warm room "Must be freezing to dead! Who would send an owl at such hours?" she complained "I'm sure it must've been Uncle Corban"

"Doubt it" Simon said while stretching his hand out in order to take the package from the animal, only to get a violent flutter and a big bite on his fingers "auch! Bloody-"

Natalia rolled her eyes at that, not even listening to her brother's swearing. Instead, she just made her way towards where he and the animal were and patted carefully the owl's head, which not surprisingly, received the touch with a much nicer reaction than it did with her idiotic brother.

"Always a charming guy when it comes to animals, aren't you, Simon?" she muttered "Anyway, you were saying?" she casually let out, not really caring at all, instead, trying to get the package away from the animal, thing she found easy to do since the owl basically pushed it towards her.

" _I said_ that it isn't Corban's because his owl's white"

Natalia frowned, looking at her twin as if he were the rarest specimen on earth while holding the small package.

"Why do you know what colour his owl is?" she asked with her whole face twitched in horror. She would rather read a whole Transfigurations book before paying attention to anything concerning their uncle Corban.

Simon just rolled his eyes, his sister always being one for dramatic reactions at such silly things.

"Because I pay attention and lack of stupidity, unlike you, clearly" he answered and then lowered his view towards what the witch had in her hands "So, who is it to?"

She crooked her head and brought the package closer to her face but as much as she tried she couldn't find any labeling in it. It was folded pretty neatly, but she could spot a few spots of dirt here and there over the lace, she guessed caused by the weather in which the owl was required to make its journey to deliver it.

"It doesn't say" she shrugged "should we open it?"

After looking over his shoulder, towards the door, just to make sure no one else was there and could potentially have heard any of their conversation, Simon nodded.

"Yeah, just be careful with it, in case is mother's and we have to fold it back as it was"

Natalia nodded too, her mother knowing they had dared to open something they weren't exactly sure wasn't theirs wasn't something she wanted to deal with not then nor ever. Her brother moved closer to where she was sitting and together waited for something interesting to come out of the package, after all it was odd to receive anything at such hours, with that kind of weather, especially since most people they knew and were close enough to send presents had already done it sooner. The reactions from the twins varied a lot one from another. When Natalia got the item out and held it in her hands, her curiosity levels were even higher than before; Simon, on the other hand lost all interest immediately.

"That's disappointing" he informed before standing up to go back to his broom staring, as before.

The girl, however, didn't listen to him or to anything else. What she was holding right there in her hands, were an exact replica from the gloves she had ruined just a few days ago, same colour and material, judging from what she could see and feel, and if she wasn't wrong (and she rarely was when it came to clothes) it had been purchased at this very nice and tiny store she'd often get her clothes from in Diagon Alley, judging by the perfume the gloves carried with them. She was grateful her brother didn't seem to have any interest in them after discovering what they were, because if Simon were to ask any questions about them, who had sent them and why; she wouldn't know what to answer since she didn't even know what to think herself.

By the time Sebastian and Eponine's compromise party took place, which was exactly three days after Christmas, Natalia had given up on the idea of finding out who had sent her the gloves; she was pretty sure she hadn't told anyone about her ruined old ones, not even Jane, which made it weird, but she guessed it could really be just a coincidence that whoever sent them just thought she could use new ones. All that the blonde girl cared about during that day was how there was no way in Salazar's name that she would wear the dress her mother wanted her to and she had two reasons for that: first off, the color was absolutely dreadful, that kind of blue didn't look good with her eyes nor skin, not to mention the light blue flowers looked ugly and secondly, it didn't fit, like, at all. She had tried getting it on, with her elf's help, but it seemed to be useless for Lulu's magic and that particular fabric didn't seem to get along. On top of that, she didn't know any spells to get the clothes to stretch a little herself, so she was sitting on the floor, next to her bed, after having told her mother how sick she was feeling and that she was fearful she could make some of the other guests face the same conditions, if she went downstairs. Petra hadn't seen very convinced about it, but when Eponine called for her on the distance upon the arrival of her family, she had no other option but to focus on the most urgent matters, leaving her daughter by herself.

She was sure it wasn't her fault, however. Yes, she had probably been eating way too many pies at school, and she rarely said no to dessert, but her mother must had surely picked on a smaller size on purpose, probably just to make a point or maybe because once again she wanted to show her how different the two of them were, since Petra Yaxley had managed to stay the same size ever since she was eighteen years old, three pregnancies and all, whereas Natalia got most of her looks from her fraternal grandmother's side, blonde locks and a taste for all sweet things, which made her cheeks a bit too chubby and her hips a little bit too wide.

Things weren't all bad, though. She really wanted to go down and enjoy her time, and she still had that dress she'd picked over the summer while in Paris and had hoped to wear for the event, but once again her mother had ruined her plans. The problem with the dress- Petra had said was that it happened to be the same hue as Eponine's and she had expressed very kindly how she would rather her ' _soon to be sister, Natali_ " to wear something different. However, despite knowing not wearing the new dress provided by her mother would lead her to some scoffing by her part, _if_ she got caught, Natalia really wanted to go downstairs; why would her classmates get to enjoy a party at her own house and she'd have to miss it? It simply made no sense, so soon; she came up with a plan. It was very simple: she'd avoid most of her family at the party, especially her mother, and if ever caught, she'd say she was feeling better; about the dress, well; there was no much she could say about it, so she'd put up with whatever kind of punishment she'd get for that, because there was no way in Merlin's name she'd admit it didn't fit.

Lulu repeated over and over again that she could try and do something about Natalia's size, since working on the dress wasn't an option, but the witch dismissed her and told her she'd hex her if she said another word about it; of course Natalia wouldn't have hexed her, Lulu was almost family, but a little bit of threatening never hurt nobody, especially not if efficiency was needed instead of someone reminding her how screwed she was going to be if she disobeyed her mother. However, her words made its work and soon Lulu was levitating that dress through the witch's body while she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"What do you think?" she asked while looking at her back, making sure every single angle looked at least decent. Of course there wasn't really a point in asking, since she didn't have any more options, but it was nice receiving some kind words while on a dress.

It was quite a simple robe, for Natalia's standards, at least. It was pink with a pouf-silk taffeta fabric; the bottom was fluffy and the top was appropriately tight, stopping just before you could see anything else but her collarbone. What the blonde loved the most about her dress was the tiny flower made off the same fabric, which rested on the center as some sort of belt. It worried her that it may've made her bottom look too big on it, but Lulu assured her she looked gorgeous while reminding her that she'd look just as good on the other dress, if she only allowed her to fix her up a little… Natalia denied, of course.

"But miss Natalia. You've told your Mistress Petra you were sick! If you go down, she'd know you-you lied… Lulu cannot allow you lying to her Mistress"

"I'm your Mistress too, in case you haven't notice" Natalia said, while fixing up some last details of her dress, not giving the creature a second glance "and besides, Lulu, you should know: sometimes, truth can hurt people and lies make them very happy. Do you want my mother to feel miserable?"

"No, never! I'd rather die!" the elf's big eyes went ballistic, while moving her hands up and down on an exaggerated demeanor, trying to convince Natalia that her intention towards the family were nothing but pure.

"Then shut up"

Putting on her pearls and similar coloured heels she was ready to go out, but decided waiting a little bit until her mother was busy enough with guests was the wise thing to do, since the matriarch would be more likely not to notice her immediately if there were other people around. So she just waited, and waited as she sat by the window looking down, just in case anyone decided to arrive by the front door, which was uncommon, but still not impossible since many old people were unable to use flu so they just settled for appearing themselves. About half a dozen of heads later that she saw from the window, she decided it was time to go.

A final look in the mirror, a little bit more perfume and she was perfect. She kissed her cat and bunny on the head and then headed outside her room.

While going down the stairs she smiled at the sound of several voices coming from the hall, lots of people ready to talk to her and probably dance, too. It wasn't a secret Natalia loved occasions where her social skills could be shown off, especially if she was meant to play host, mainly because her outfits always seemed amazing, but also because people just seemed to adore her when they were at her house. The only downside of the night she could think of, was meeting Eponine's family, which surely would be just as despising as their offspring, and maybe: facing her mother with the clear evidence of her disobedience, but she decided she wouldn't let it bother her just then. All she thought about doing that night was having fun and yes, maybe talking to some of her classmates, the fact that she couldn't stand them while at Hogwarts didn't mean she didn't enjoy their company if she got some compliments on their part for looking absolutely gorgeous.

Luckily, neither her mother nor Eponine were in sight when she first entered the party. Instead, she saw Mr. and Mrs. Avery, along with one of their children, their younger one, a third year, the other two: Amelia and Alfred, she supposed were around; there also were Mrs. Rosier and her father, Evan's aunt and grandfather and some other people. After sharing a small chat with most of them and receiving a few compliments in regards of the fabulous party- which she hadn't had a thing to do with but wouldn't dream of telling them otherwise, she left towards another room.

The ball room was big enough for her to get lost in the crowd without catching any of the people she was looking to avoid for the most time possible that night, the vast amount of witches and wizards present there were also of great help. Instead, she ended up bumping into a person she hadn't seen in about a year: her aunt, Sylviana, looking as radiant as always, a cigarette in her mouth and wearing purple.

" _Ce surpriza! Look who I've found_!" She spoke in the strongest Romanian ever, her voice slightly loud enough for the few people around them to turn and look, but unable to understand a thing about it "Natalia! _Roz_?" she had asked, raising a dark brow, inquiring about the bright colour of her dress.

"I look better in roz. It's my favourite colour" Natalia smiled, replying back in the same language her aunt had addressed her in, while getting closer so she could kiss the other witch's cheeks "You look radiant, matusica!"

Sylvania laughed and as always, her voice came out sounding like little bells. Natalia always found it interesting how effortless charming her aunt was, and how much different she was from her own mother; while both sisters looked a lot alike, physically, their personalities couldn't be more far away than they were.

"You do too, fluturaș" she said back, taking another smoke out of her cigarette, which seemed to be at the end of its life "Have you seen your grandparents yet?"

The young girl smiled upon that nickname only her mother's family would call her. It meant little butterfly, and she had been called that by Sylvania ever since she was a young child, the other members of the family soon adopting it too because they figured that Petra's little girl was just as social as one.

"No, I'm afraid not. I've just gotten down my chambers"

"Ah yes" her aunt said casually, while placing a hand on her niece's back and leading her slowly towards the end of the room, where the girl's grandparents were supposed to be waiting for her at "I didn't see you with your parents when we arrived. I'm foarte surprised Petra didn't say anything"

"Well, she was too busy. I think Eponine's family arrived earlier and I told her I was feeling sick but now I'm here"

"Ah, but that wasn't true, was it?"

"No, it was but-

Pink cheeks gave her away, making the grown woman smile, the amusement reaching her eyes even. Not that she approved of children lying to their parents, but she couldn't deny she had done much worse things back when she was younger, her niece's action reminding her much of herself back at that age.

"That was mischievous!" she added "but, tell me, how's this Eponine girl? Be honest! Do you think she's good enough for your brother?"

Natalia sighed, not sure how to answer that. On one side, she wanted to be completely honest, just how she had always been with her aunt, and say ' _No, I really don't think she's the right choice and I'd rather have a troll as a sister in law rather than he_ r' but at the same time, she was tired of even talking about Eponine, so in order to save herself the pain of further talking about her, she didn't say anything too interesting

"We don't really talk much. She's not much of a talker"

"Yes, I could tell" her aunt finished the rest of her cigarette, making the tiny bit that was left in her fingers disappear with a tiny finger movement "Look there" she said while pointing with her head towards some sofas in the back of the room "There they are"

Sitting there, in the dark red seats, there were her grandparents; one of them sitting on a single small sofa and her grandmother sitting on the lager one, along with her younger cousin, Matei. As it was natural, the old fellows were too old to notice anything that didn't happen right in front of their eyes, so they didn't notice Natalia until she was close enough to them she was able to hug them. Natalia couldn't help but feel sorry for her grandparents every time they came to England for a social event such as that one, they did not only have their advance age in their disfavor but also, none of them could speak a word of English, hence why her cousin was sitting there with them, to keep them company and serve as translator just in case any British wizard or witch approached them.

"Look how pretty she looks" her grandfather said roughly, looking at his wife "She looks very Romanian, doesn't she?"

Her grandmother, Elena, smiled kindly and looked at her granddaughter, who stood still in front of them, next to her aunt whose hand was still over her back. Just as it was typical of her grandmother, she nodded, not a word escaping her lips.

"She looks a lot like Uncle Bruno" her cousin added, too young, at twelve, to know his dear grandfather could get very upset at such silly things.

"Ahg! Nonsenses" he cried, waving his hands on an exaggerated manner "This kid's vision is bad. You should take him to a healer, Sylviana" he told his younger daughter, as if no one else was there.

As usual, Sylviana took the comment lightly and laughed it off, just as Natalia did, who found it extremely funny when her grandfather began vaporing about silly things.

Ion Apostu had a rough and loud voice, and could scare pretty much anyone with just that, not to mention that on the good old days, he'd be taller than 193cm, however, everyone who knew him well enough were aware he was just an awkward man who happened to be very friendly if he liked you; smiles weren't his forte, an neither were words, but he somehow got to grow on you.

"You're right, tata. He really should get help soon"

Not noticing the taste of cheekiness coming from his granddaughter's words, the man just nodded, happy to see someone else was agreeing with him. If there was anything worse than British, it was having family who looked British; luckily for him, that wasn't the case with his grandchildren for they all looked very Romanian to him.

"Did you get our presents?" He asked her bluntly.

Natalia smiled

"Yes tata, I got yours and bunicuta's. I adored it, thank you very much" she said, while holding her grandmother's, her _banicuta's_ hand with care among her own two, placing a small kiss on the woman's pale cheek "How did you know I needed a new clock? I broke mine months ago"

"I just know" 

The girl giggled.

"Well, I loved the sweets too, very nice ones." And then, knowing her grandfather was probably tired of talking, she turned towards one person who she knew couldn't. Sitting on the other single sofa, Sylvania was lighting up another cigarette "Are Luca and Victor also here?"

"Yes, yes. They're off with your brother, I think. Or who knows" she laughed, letting a bit of smoke come out of her mouth in a straight line "Your tata is arranging something for Victor, did you know?"

Natalia nodded.

"Yes, mother mentioned a girl from Pensylvania"

"Aha" her aunt replied, taking a sip of a drink that Natalia hadn't noticed she had before "Very cute girl, her family is good too. Her great great great grandfather was a cousin of mine"

"That's lovely, Matusica" the blonde smiled, truly happy her older cousin was soon going to be settled with someone nice, who could luckily put some senses into his brain. He was soon turning eighteen and also one of the only people who got her brother annoyed faster than she did. His younger brother, Luca at fifteen, wasn't much different.

Just as Natalia began talking to her grandmother, who listened with attention to each one of her words, her aunt did the same with her son, and her grandfather was left to himself, something he enjoyed greatly, having never been much of a social man himself.

Talking to her bunicuta always felt nice, even if she didn't reply back, Natalia knew she was listening to each one of her words, unlike most people.

She was about to tell her grandmother about her last Transfigurations test, and how she succeeded at it, when she felt her nickname coming from her aunt Sylvania's lips. When she looked over at her, she saw she had already finished her drink and her cigarette was about to run the same fate as the previous one, however, her usual relaxed smile had something different in it, and Natalia couldn't put her finger into what it was.

"That boy" she smiled even more, pointing quickly with her head to the other side of the room "He's been looking since you sat down"

Natalia didn't know who she was expecting to find, or if she was even expecting to find anyone at all since she knew sometime relatives could be delusional, but when she turned her head quickly and caught sight of a pair of electric grey eyes and these quickly turned away, she couldn't be more surprised. She knew they had talked a lot the other night, danced even, but she guessed that just like every other time the two would show any signs of being civil towards each other, he'd panic and treat her rudely and disappear for days. But no, he was looking at her, and according to her aunt, he had been doing so for quite a long time. Before she knew it, her cheeks were going pink and her aunt was giggling. All dark sets of eyes were on her, and as much as she usually enjoyed that, it wasn't very comforting at the time.

"He's handsome. What's his name?"

Although she'd have liked to say she didn't really knew the guy, not to raise suspicion, that'd be useless. Any of her family members could go and ask anyone in the room and they'd tell them who that person was and how both Natalia and him went to school together. With a sight, and procuring not to look any of them in the eye, instead focusing on playing with her grandmother's ring, she let out what his name was.

"Black…" Ion let out to himself "I knew a Lycoris Black. She's dead now. They're a good family. But they're English"

If the topic had been different, Natalia would've laughed at her grandfather's final comment.

"I think you should go talk to him" her aunt said, crashing the cigarette with one of her palms, why she didn't use her wand was beyond Natalia's knowledge "He's interested but won't come here because he's been caught"

"Matusica, I really would rather to stay here with you. I rarely even see you during the year so-

"Nonsenses! You go and talk to him. I doubt he rarely even sees you looking like you do know. Now, go. We'll talk tomorrow"

"But I want to-

"If you don't go I'll tell your mother about you little lie" she let out on heavily accented English. She was obviously switching languages because she knew neither Ion nor Elena understood a word of it, and although Sylvania found it quite amusing when her niece told some little white lies, she guessed her elder parents wouldn't.

With a roll of eyes and kissing both her grandparents on the cheeks, Natalia began walking with a frown towards the boy. She adored her aunt Sylvania, but she was reckless and spontaneous and one never knew how a conversation with her could end up like: this time, it turned up to have Sirius Black involved. As she walked over, she could feel how her cheeks were raising up in temperature. Why was she so nervous to talk to Sirius Black, a boy she had known since childhood and who she found detestable? Only Merlin could know.

When she arrived to the small circle of people, she found him along with his cousins, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy and a few friends of the latest.

"Natalia" the woman smiled kindly, stepping up to give the young witch a small and tender hug "How nice is to see you! You look marvelous, darling. Doesn't she, Sirius?" she smiled while facing her cousin, clearly forcing him to agree with her.

The boy, who hadn't looked at the newly arrived ever since that moment before, only shrugged and greeted her on his usual way, by her last name. If he had been embarrassed about getting caught before, he didn't show it.

Both members from the Malfoy family seemed to show some natural annoyance upon their younger cousin's lack of social skills, but didn't mention any of it for there were other people with them. After Natalia got greeted by everyone in the small circle, all people who were older than twenty five, and mostly all married, Narcissa spoke up again:

"I think Regulus is over there somewhere" she said while grabbing the other witch's arm and standing on the tips of her feet in order to see over so many people "If you come just with me, we could find him and-

"Actually, I need to talk to Yaxley" Sirius let out with a thin smile, one Natalia could easily recognize as fake, grabbing the witch by the arm, allowing her with barely enough time to say goodbye to the others.

By the looks of it, Narcissa wanted to say something against it very desperately, but Lucius denied with his head and put an arm over her shoulder, letting her know it wasn't really worth it. He had learnt over the years that talking to a Black out of something was just like talking to a hippogriff: dangerous and useless.

And so, both young wizard and witch walked away, he still holding a grip on her arm, and she trying to catch up with his longer legs which made twice the distance she could cover in half the time. They walked in silence until they lowered their steps, just as they arrived to another room where lesser people stood and talked; the music could still be heard, but the conversations going there seemed to be those people's main worry since they were all quiet and still.

"You're welcome" he said when they stopped walking, looking around to see if he could stop any elves carrying some drinks. He could use a little bit of champagne after talking to those people for more than half an hour.

"I'm welcome?" Natalia frowned "For what? "

He rolled his eyes, while catching glance of an elf just walking by and carrying something, which he was disappointed to see were just snacks. Getting his attention back to the girl in front of him, he replied: "In case you haven't noticed, Narcissa is trying to set you up with Regulus" he mentioned "So you're welcome. Because of me you won't have to spend time with my dreadful brother"

Natalia snorted, bringing her hands to her waist, a look full of disbelief on her face.

"And because of you, also, I've got to spend time with his annoying brother. Thank you" she smiled cynically.

"You're welcome" He smiled too, this time, with pleasure.

A groan of annoyance came out of Natalia, who soon wrapping her arms around herself, looking around in order not to focus on him so he wouldn't see that tiny smile she was trying to hide. If he ever found that she secretly found some of his comments to be amusing, Merlin knows what'd become of her.

"So, where's the alcohol?" Sirius asked.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because you look just as miserable as I do"

"Ugh. Is in the kitchens" she confessed "maybe I will-

And just as she was trying to inform him what she was about to do, she saw a green dress and dark skin emerging from the same doorframe they had just came in from; immediately recognizing that'd be her mother, her eyes went wide and she couldn't help but grab Sirius's wrist instantly, turning her face around. If her mother saw her there talking to him, wearing that, with a face which didn't show any signs of being sick, she wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Come, Black!" she hissed.

She was grateful that the boy wasn't putting any resistance when she pulled him, very out of character from him. Pulling Sirius Black right behind her, towards the other door, Natalia wished her mother wouldn't recognize her from behind- thing that due of having a different dress, seemed unlikely. She thought had heard him ask where she was taking him, but she didn't do well explaining while doing things under pressure. When they arrived to the drawing room, Natalia saw no one else but Eponine with some other people she had never seen, which she assumed where her family. Upon the certainty she wasn't safe anywhere else in her own house, she turned to face Sirius.

"Okay. Go to the kitchens, get a bottle of something and then go up to my chambers. Right from the stairs, third door. Nock first. Don't get caught"

Not even waiting for a confirmation, she left, leaving a very confused Sirius Black.

Why had she acted in such an impulsive way? She was unsure about that; she guessed it was because when she got nervous she kind of did reckless things only to regret them later. When her plan of avoiding her mother for the night seemed to start falling apart, she got nervous, and she acted. Hiding in her room seemed like the perfect option, the woman would be too busy to even think of checking on her daughter. Why had she invited Sirius Black? Well, for the same reasons, and also, hiding by herself surely would've been boring and she didn't have time to find anyone else. Besides, they wouldn't even need to talk that much, that's why she had asked for the alcohol, so they could keep themselves entertained with something else.

Maybe inviting a boy over to her chambers wasn't something very lady like, but boringness was something she didn't want to experience on that particular night. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone would find out. On top of that, she thought it very unlikely that he would even turn up.

Taking advantage of the situation, since she was in the comfort of her own chambers and given the only person who may possibly see her was someone whose opinion she couldn't care less about, she decided taking her shoes off and putting on her slippers was a perfect move. The dress, however, she didn't change, after all it was the main reason why she was there instead of downstairs with the rest of the party; besides, she liked the feeling it gave her, as if she were a princess.

She was running after Peaches, who decided hopping around was her new favourite thing to do, when she felt the door open. Rolling her eyes, while getting a grab on the furry thing, she heard him speak. Of course he hadn't knocked.

"What's that thing you've got in there?" he said while turning around to close the wooden door.

"This is my bunny, Peaches" she said standing up, the thing in her hands, holding it up so he could take a good look of her "I got her for Yule, isn't she precious?"

"Not really" she snorted "Anyway, they didn't have any firewhisky around, so I grabbed this instead" he showed her the bottle of champagne which he held under his armpit.

"It'll work" Natalia said, putting the pet down in her bed. Matilda, who was already sleeping there, looked up on annoyance, not very fond of the newest addition to the room.

He proceeded to place the bottle down on the ground, and look around towards what surrounded him. The room screamed Natalia Yaxley, and it was just all he was expecting, the rabbit only being a plus. The walls were pink, the bed linen was pink, and everything else besides the furniture and the ceiling, which were white, was also pink. Some of the things he could spot quite quickly included music boxes, some pears laying here and there, heaps of perfume bottles, and clothes spaced around. When he looked down, he noticed that she was wearing white slippers instead of shoes.

"So…" he began, all while she put away some clothes into what he believed was her closet "Why'd you bring me here? Do you want to take advantage of me?" he winked cockily, getting closer to her and causing her to roll her eyes while folding her arms.

"No, I bought you here because I lied to my mother about not feeling very well and then went down anyway hence had to escape when I saw her, and since I didn't want to be up here alone, you're here too"

That was good enough of an answer for him, and was grateful that she wasn't asking why he had accepted, because he didn't have half the excuse she had just given, not even for himself.

Opening the bottle and taking a big gulp, he sat down on the floor, making her follow with the same action, but somehow more delicately, laying a blanket underneath so her dress wouldn't get any kind of dirt on it because it was a really delicate fabric. They were sitting cross-legged one in front of the other, and she waited patiently until the boy was finished so she could take the same use out of the bubbly wine.

"Why did you lie to your mother?" he asked casually, just to make conversation since they seemed to be starting to fade into an uncomfortable silence, and he hated those.

However, the reaction he got from the girl was no casual at all, instead, her cheeks went about the same hue as her dress and she ran her eyes around the room trying to avoid his own. Telling her former enemy that she had had to lie about not going somewhere because her dress wouldn't fit didn't seem like the perfect idea; especially not taking into account that Sirius Black was a superficial and popular boy who had probably slept with more than half the castle.

"Uhm… because... I didn't want to go down. I was feeling tired"

He raised a brow, not buying it. He believed her to be a good liar, most of the times, but she had already given herself away.

"You? Tired? Aren't you like the most hyperactive person ever?"

"I'm not and quit it" she said quickly, taking the bottle away from him, taking a large gulp and flinching at the slightly burning liquid that kept going down her throat " _That was strong_ " she let out, allowing herself slowly to rest over her back, to end up lying flat on the floor, the bottle still in her hand, and taking a few sips every once in a while. The bubbles were doing their quick magic.

Sirius didn't do much for a little bit, waiting for her to get back up on her bottom again but upon seeing that she wasn't about to do that, he grew tired and took the bottle from her clumsy hands and drank the liquid as well, fast and without much flinching. When he was done, he left it back on the floor, close enough for Natalia to reach if she stretched her arm a bit; thing she did, barely even lifting her head up to drink it.

"Did you get anything interesting for Yule?" she asked.

"Few books, not much else. You?" he asked, raising a brow, sounding casual.

"Well, I got peaches" she answered as she took another glup, trying to catch sight of the animal but unable to do so, instead, she saw the mysterious gloves resting on top of her nightstand, she had left them until it was occasion to use them "Some other things as well"

"Good"

"Do you think… do you think your friend Remus could've sent me something?" she asked, with her brow half lifted.

It had indeed occurred to her, that perhaps he could've been the one to send her the gloves. They were really nice quality so she guessed they must had been bought by someone who thought highly of her, and who could think higher of her than the boy she assumed fancied her? Of course they were things in that theory that didn't make a lot of sense, like how would he know that she ruined her gloves and how did he get her address, but that didn't matter. She had thought of keeping the theory to herself and then when she saw him in the castle, she'd drop a few hints here and there about it, and see if it had indeed been him, but the alcohol was working its way through her system and given that Sirius Black could possibly have answers, she asked.

The boy in question had the deepest frown over his face, raising his body over over one hand to look at her. She looked at him confused, not really catching on what had she done wrong.

"Why on earth would Remus send you anything for Christmas?"

"I don't know, I got this present and its very nice, and since he fancies me-

"He doesn't fancies you" the boy said quickly, fully sitting now.

"Well, I don't know that, and you don't either. I think he does, because he flushed the other day when I said something"

Sirius rolled his eyes, not sure why it was so important to him to convince her otherwise. Soon, he decided the reason why he was being so invested in her not thinking that was simply preserving his best friend's wellbeing, for there could be nothing worse for such a shy boy like Remus than to have Natalia Yaxley thinking he fancied her.

"He flushes at everything. Besides, he likes someone else"

"Who?" she asked quickly, sitting back on her bottom again, her eyes wide as she started at the boy sitting next to her.

"Lily's sister" he answered quickly, as he took another drink out of the bottle "they're both like, really, really in love. If you got in between them, you'd be breaking something very pure"

"But Lily's sister is 8!" she cried horrified, looking at him with severe astonishment. She had really thought he liked her, where had she gone wrong?

"Not that Lily" he rolled his eyes, understanding well enough that she was referring to Lilian Flint, a fourth year from Slytherin whose parents were friends with their own "I mean Evans"

To this, Natalia looked even more appealed.

"But she's a muggle!"

"She's a muggleborn, but yes, her sister's a muggle"

He didn't hear all she said after that, but it sounded very much like 'I though Remus Lupin was a fine, smart boy. Looks can really fool you" along with some small curses in between to which he didn't pay attention to. He was, indeed, lying. Remus Lupin had seen Lily's little sister only four times and had admitted on her being indeed a very pretty individual, much like her older sister, making Sirius and the rest of his friends mock him about him, making the boy go scarlet red. Had he twisted the truth a little bit and made up the two were in love when they barely knew each other? Maybe, but he was only doing that for his own good.

Not fancying talking any more about it, he remembered then, he had one of the very few things that gave him strength to get out of the house and face a party full of people who hated the mere idea of him resting on his right pocket. With a huge smile creeping through his face, he took out one small paper box which had once contained sweets but then held three cigarettes safely inside of it. At school, he'd smoke regularly, a few times a day every day, a bit more during the weekends; but at Grimmauld Place, he was lucky if he got to do it at least once a week in his room; not that his parents were the caring type about his health; if he had a thing for smoking pipes they wouldn't even give him a second glance, but since those cigarettes were 100% a muggle thing and due to the fact he had been getting those by courtesy of the muggleborns from years above, none Walburga or Orion approved of them; of course that didn't stop Sirius from doing it. Sometimes, when he really wanted to piss them off, he'd just light them on and not even smoke them, leave them hanging near their chambers or wherever his parents were, just so the smell would drive them nuts. However, no matter how much of a trouble maker he was, sometimes even the infamous Sirius Black needed some peace in his life, which was difficult to achieve when your family was as dark as they came and he happened to be of a weird inclination, hence why he had to cut back on nicotine and tobacco during holidays, much to his annoyance. So at parties, that's all he always did every time he got the chance to: he smoked.

After lighting up one of the fags with one of the candles that were resting on Yaxley's vanity table, he sat back down; feeling his body relax once the smoke entered his lungs. He had been longing for that feeling; smoking ever since fourth year got him used to the thing. The girl noticed about it almost immediately, sniffing her nose like a dog; it made him laugh.

"Want to try, Yaxley?"

"What's that?" she said while getting up on her butt quite sloppily, clearly that alcohol was starting to make effect.

"Here" he said, handing it to the girl who took it with a distrusting look on her face, very slowly "Like this" he gestured, once she had the thing among her fingers, showing her the correct way to do it.

He was pretty sure she was dying to ask a bunch of questions about whatever it was what she was about to put through her lips, but he thanked alcohol because it always seemed to numb the girls' very annoying natural reactions, and why not, also get her to behave a little bit braver. Without closing her eyes, the blonde inhaled from the cigarette and found herself flinching and coughing desperately to get the smoke out of her system

"This is awful!" she cried, handing it back to him while he laughed upon her reaction, which was just the very same Remus had had about a year ago when he and James had talked him into trying them too "Do you honestly like this?" she frowned as he took it away from her.

"I love this" he smiled while getting it on his mouth, only to get another taste from the cigarette.

"Where did you even get that thing?" she asked as she took a big gulp of champagne in order to wash her mouth from such an awful taste. It reminded her of one very unpleasant Bertie Botts bean her cousin had once forced to eat upon losing a bet against him "It tastes like ashes" 

"This thing, is called a fag" he explained as he played with it, passing it around his fingers, up and down, as if it were his wand or some similar thing, her eyes following every move "and I bought them from Samuel McKenna at Hogwarts, really good price, let me tell you"

"I don't even know who Samuel McKenna is"

"Of course you don't. He's a muggleborn. His father is a plumser, or something like that" he mentioned with a smile, knowing exactly that his words were teasing the blonde.

Her eyes went wide

"He's a-

"Yes, a pumser. He fixes bathroom related things, but with no magic" 

"That's not what I wanted to ask. So, this is muggle? "she asked, pointing towards the thing he held between his lips with her head.

"Yup" 

"You're gross" she said, as if stating a fact "hand it to me" she said, extending her arm towards him.

Surprised, he did exactly as she told him so. He only hoped she wouldn't break it or anything, because he didn't have many more until he got back to Hogwarts.

However, she did not break it. Instead, she turned it around, very close to her face, observing every single detail in it, not that there were many. Every once in a while she'd wrinkle her nose and move it further away from her face when the smoke would get too intense, but she only handed It back to Sirius after she decided she was finish inspecting it

"I'll stick to wizarding inventions" she smiled petulantly, holding the bottle of alcohol and drinking some more of it while getting up on her feet "Come on, let's dance. I'm feeling dandy already" and handing one of her hands to Sirius, he took it.

The music could be heard from downstairs without much problem, but while classical music was lovely when she was sober with heaps of people around, in the comfort of her own room she preferred a little bit of wrock and songs sung by pretty boys in tights. With a smile on her face, turning around so Sirius Black could only stare at her back; she put on one of her new records on the wireless, one she had gotten as a Christmas present from Jane, actually. She turned around smiling, shaking her shoulders from side to side as Thitulus Spectram's voice began echoing through her room.

Sirius Black rolled his eyes, his opinion on the music chosen was obviously very different from the one the girl in front of him had, but to be honest, he had drank a nice amount of pure champagne to be a little bit looser than usual, and between Thitulus Spectram and his silly band and classical music, he'd take the pretty boy anytime; all of that went without mentioning he enjoyed dancing like that, and hadn't had the chance to do it in quite a while. Taking the bottle from her and drinking some more, he began moving his body too along the melody.

They were shaking their heads, laughing their faces off; gums showing and all, moving their bodies all around the room and not even minding where they stepped since none of them had their shoes or slippers on anymore. When one of them wasn't holding the bottle, it meant the other one had it and was probably drinking from it and dropping much of what It contained on the ground, and despite of what Sirius Black claimed about not liking the The Blibbering Humdingers, he sang along with almost the same accuracy as Natalia did to most songs; that, he'd blame later on, all those parties at Gryffindor when he got no other option but to listen to them every once in a while. They felt as if they were lighter than an owl's feather and acted like it, barely touching the floor. When he managed to focus for a little bit, he could see her like he had never seen her before, it was like back at Hagrid's cabin all over again but somehow, freer and more relaxed, just as he was feeling. If an outsider came in and paid attention, he or she'd have been surprised to see how shiny their skin was in late December, their bodies sweating slightly despite the lows temperatures that adorned winter in England. It was when the bottle hit below half when they touched by accident for the first time while dancing, her upper arm brushed against his chest, both feeling how warm the other's body was, and instead of ignoring the fact as they'd have surely done in any other given situation, they smiled from ear to ear and saw it as a perfect excuse to touch even more.

After that there was no coming back. He dropped the bottle on the floor, trying to make sure it wouldn't split, and both of the young wizards began dancing, brushing their arms one against the other; their smiles giant and genuine, clearly having fun. He passed one of his arms around her neck, bringing her even closer to where he stood, and she put up no resistance upon that. He was used to dancing like that, with girls, but never with a Slytherin, not that he was thinking of her as a snake at the moment. Natalia had never danced like that with a boy ever in her life, the closest thing she had gotten to that was doing it with Jane, not that she was thinking of Jane at the moment.

She passed a hand past his neck too, and he smiled cockily upon this, making her laugh. Then, she noticed how pretty his curls were, and how much she wanted to touch them, so she did exactly that.

They kept on moving, slower than before, with less euphoria but somehow, more feeling. If he moved a little to the left, she did too; if she moved to the right, he followed. Both their arms around each other's necks, her fingers playing with his hair as if they were the best thing she'd ever dared touch, moving their hips and shoulders as the music ordered them to. This time, they had nothing else to focus on but on each other's faces, and she'd had liked to kiss him right there because Sirius Black was such a pretty boy and he was treating her so nicely! Just as she was getting her lips close to his, something he seemed eager to see happening, her legs failed her, and soon she fell on her bottom, making her laugh as she descended to the ground.

Laughter could be heard from him as well as he sat himself down too, to make her some company down there after failing on his attempts to get her to stand, since she'd fall over again every time she'd pull from his hands. Drinking made her a little bit sloppy, what could she said? _Oops_.

They regained their breath after a few minutes of doing nothing on the floor, their laughter dying down slightly, but their smiles still plastered on their faces. All that dancing and laughing had sure exhausted them. He lit on another cigarette, this time not even bothering to stand up in order to get the candle but stretching his arm far enough to get the fag near the flame. He smiled again when he put it on his lips.

She crawled next to him, for she was in front of him before, and took it away from his mouth; instantly his face turned so he'd be able to face her, they were barely a few centimeters away from each other. As he watched her put the cigarette between her lips and the blow all the smoke right on his face, he was hypnotized; he couldn't think of anyone or anything else but in what was happening in that exact moment. This time, she was able to hold it better and when she passed it back to Sirius, she was smiling.

When he was able to speak again, he said: "You just had muggle stuff again"

Upon that, instead of blushing or acting outraged as she usually would, she smiled playfully, bringing her index finger between her lips as a light " _shhh_ " came out of her lips, making him chuckle. Unexpectedly and without much protocol, he grabbed her gently by one side of her head and pushed her closer to his mouth and began kissing her, slowly.

Unlike the last time they had done that, it was calm, as if it was something meant to happen after all, while the previous kiss they had shared had been desperate, curious and quite out of the blue, like discovering a new flavor of your favourite candy; the one they were sharing just then then felt just like deciding that indeed said flavor was your newest favourite after all. The kissing lasted for a good amount of minutes, this time their hands touching each other's faces and hair instead than their bodies, for they didn't want to explore anything really, they just wanted to feel the other being there, to make sure it was real, somehow.

When they pulled apart, they smiled slightly, feeling dizzy but no showing a hint of regret, very unlike the last time. Their breathing was slow and calm, very different from what it had been a few hours ago when they jumped and danced around the room like two mad wizards.

"I think I'm getting a like of you" he let out. He'd regret saying that when the alcohol faded away.

She giggled and then smiled, brushing her hand softly against his soft cheek: "you're pretty" she let out, getting a little blush to form on his cheeks, probably the first one she had ever seen coming from him, however, she was drunk enough not to notice "but you always kiss me when you're drunk"

"Next time I'll kiss you when we're not. I promise"

"you better" she said last, standing up and yawning, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand "I think I'm sleepy"

What happened next was a bit of a blur for her to remember the next morning. She was able to recall getting into bed, under the blankets, not even bothering to take off her dress since Sirius was still there and no matter how drunk, she knew taking her dress of in front of him wasn't the right thing to do just then. She was able to recall they talked for a bit more after she got in bed, he still was on the floor and she couldn't remember what they said, but she knew it had been funny, because she had laughed until she fell asleep.

When she woke up she had a slight headache and everything from the previous night felt like a dream. Overall, she was on a state of dreaming and admitting it to herself, she guessed she was also scared he wasn't feeling the same way as she was and found himself instead regretting everything that had happened. Was it really possible for her to have found a boy who liked her enough for who she was? One that made her feel so alive and free like the girls in those short stories from the magazines she liked to read? She hoped so, and the only downside she found on that person being Sirius Black was, forgetting all about his muggle loving personality or the way he acted at school, that morning after the party, in her bed, Natalia Yaxley 's only reason to fear what she was starting to feel for Sirius Black was the fact that perhaps he'd not love her back if given the opportunity, leaving her heartbroken.

She gave herself several minutes to rest in her bed and think, and giggle every now and then before she put on her slippers and took her dress off. She called for Strinky, so she'd help her get a nice bath, for she had sweated quite a bit the previous night and felt a little bit gross.

When the elf entered the room, Natalia noticed it wrinkled its nose while directed its big eyes towards her.

"Mistress Tally! Have you been drinking?!" the elf asked with surprise as it inspected around the room for the source of the smell, which of course mainly was the empty bottle of champagne, but also came from different spots on the floor where part of it had been spilled when dancing "Mistress Petra said you were ill! You can't drink alcoholic beverages when you're Ill, Mistress! That'd make you feel worse"

The blonde placed a palm over the right side of her head, the high pitched voice of the creature telling her off clearly didn't get along with being hangover; however, she was in such a good mood that morning, that instead of yelling at the elf or kicking her out, she smiled calmly.

"Now, Strinky…. You don't want to tell my mother that, do you? Of course not. That'd distress my mother and with all the people staying in the house, do you think she needs that? Besides, I feel perfect now, that sparkling wine was my perfect medicine"

"Strinky… Strinky guesses not…" the elf said looking down at her foot, while moving it left and right against the floor

"Well, then. It's decided. You'll keep this little secret for me, since I'm your Mistress too and you love me, and my mother and father and anyone else will know nothing about it because telling them would be hurting them, do you understand?" Natalia kneeled down, so she could be on the same level as the elf, locking her blue eyes with her much bigger purple ones.

"Yes, Mistress Natalia. You're right, you're so smart. Strinky's so stupid to think of disturbing the rest of her family. Strinky's awfully sorry, Mistress!" the elf said, tears in her eyes, as she was hitting herself on the head.

Natalia smiled, knowing she had reached her goal. With care she managed to stop the elf from beating herself, something she rarely did but that was still in her nature as a house elf. With a small pet on the head of the little help, she assured her there was no problem and asked her to go and prepare the bath for her, thing the elf agreed to do quickly.

Not that Bruno and Petra Yaxley disapproved of her drinking, since they understood it as something inevitable and necessary for witches and wizards once they reached a certain age, no point denying it, but as Strinky had stated, she had been supposed to be sick that previous night and drinking champagne to heal oneself wasn't much of an antidote. Natalia believed everything to be perfect then; she had spent one of the best nights of her life, she didn't have much of a hangover, and her parents would never find out of her little lie; life couldn't be sweeter. Even upon the fact that she'd have to officially meet her soon to be sister in law's family while they stayed at her house for the rest of the week seemed bearable after all that had happened.

As she walked around her room she smiled upon seeing some things placed differently than they had been before, nothing broken, luckily. When she saw a bit of what was left of that thing Sirius had given her the other night which name she couldn't recall, she frowned and felt disgusted: that was one thing she shouldn't had done; kissing a Gryffindor wasn't too bad but putting a muggle invention on her lips was certainly disgusting; however, it wasn't as if she was going to do it again or anyone would find out about it, so she just hid the evidence by opening the window and throwing it away. She picked up the bottle and hid the remaining of it on her trunk, where no one else would see it. Her pets, rested peacefully on their respective beds, just as she had been doing previously.

Before she knew it, her bath was ready and she was relaxing her muscles with the warm, bubbly and rose smelling water. She played with the bubbles, giggled when one of them would pop on her face and designed different hairstyles with the white foam, only to destroy them by getting her head underwater every time she'd finish and laugh at the result she saw on her little mirror. If it had been up to her, she'd continued on doing the same for the rest of the morning, since the water was jinxed so it wouldn't get cold, but she wasn't oblivious to the fact that she had already been absent from the party, as far as her mother was concerned, and she didn't want to keep her waiting anymore, by consequence spoiling her perfect mood with some scolding.

Dressing herself on some nice clothes, she got Lulu to help with her hair so it wouldn't look too messy. By nine she had a headband on her head and she was looking fresh and happy as she walked down the stairs to meet up with the rest of the people staying in her house. She was glad the state counted with twenty rooms, for there were just as many wizards making use of them.

Outside, by the grounds, she spotted her brothers and cousins all riding their brooms, despite the cold December air, enjoying the bits of sunrays that were offered to them during the day. Even little Matei was allowed to play, and that'd be his first time at doing so. If she'd liked Quidditch, she'd have feel offended by them not inviting her, but the true was she much rather preferred to be standing on her own two feet in the warmth of her home, especially given the monstrous headhache she was bearing.

It was at the drawing room where she spotted the rest of the people staying at her house. Both her parents and her aunt were sitting down, along with Eponine and two middle aged brunette wizards who appeared to be her parents. She guessed her grandparents must've been surely taking a walk around the grounds, for she knew her grandmother liked doing so very much and her grandfather tended not to refuse anything she asked.

When she turned into the room she greeted the strangers first, deciding it would be rather nice to get it off the way as soon as humanly possible. With her parents introduction and explanation regarding why she hadn't been able to be present at the party the previous night, Natalia shacked hands with Dephine and Hugo Delgrange, both who seemed equally insufferable as their child.

"How are you feeling today, Tally?" her father asked, as she squeezed her way next to him on the sofa and leaned softly against him. He sounded slightly concerned, for he knew a stomachache like his daughter had claimed to be suffering wasn't something to worry too much about, but he couldn't help it, she was the apple of his eyes.

"Very well, thank you, papa" she smiled, brushing her palm against his shoulder, letting him know she appreciated his concern. If she hadn't felt as happy as she did, she'd have felt guilty. Fortunately, there was no space for that kind of feelings neither in her heart or mind at the moment "Are banicuta and tata on a walk?" she asked, to no one in particular, but hoping the person who'd answer was either her father or aunt.

Luckily for her, it was her aunt Sylvania, the one to answer. She did it so in her native language, receiving a very annoyed look by her younger sister, who thought it to be rude towards her guests who barely managed to speak English, let alone trying to understand Romanian. Yes, her grandparents had gone for a walk around the small forest they had at the back of their state, a fair walk she was surprised her tata could even be allowed to do.

With a charming smile and some nice words she managed to leave the room soon enough, with the excuse to join her grandparents, stopping at the kitchens first, where she managed to get some tea and a little bit of pudding that was left from the party, which her mother would surely disapprove of her eating at such hours In the morning, not that Natalia cared. Given her mood, her mother could've yelled at her for all she wanted, and Natalia wouldn't stop feeling like she was walking on the seventh cloud.


	14. chapter 14

**_Hi, everyone!_**

 ** _Long time since last time I uploaded, but I have a valid excuse which is uni and how I was working on some other projects besides this one. Anyway, I'm really ecxited because I get to write more and more about Sirius and Natalia as a unit instead of those separate beings which I understand is necessary but I'm a romantic what can I say? My brother got married last month! (hence why I didn't have much time to upload either) and I SWEAR the whole Sebastian wedding has NOTHING to do with my own brother's despide the coincidence (in real life, my sister in law isn't french and is a sweetheart so yeah) Anywhosie, hope you all get to enjoy this and that you're happy wherever it is that you're reading this from, I hope your life is sweet and nice and that you're kind and that people are kind to you too! Remember I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to the series since that was created by J.K Rowling! I only own my OC's._**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

 _Some people think they're always right_  
 _Others are quiet and uptight_  
 _Others they seem so very nice nice nice nice_  
 _Inside they might feel sad and wrong_

The rest of her week had been tedious, but nothing too difficult for her to manage since she always came up with a good excuse to hide in her room when people got too tiring, which was often. She was lucky that her brother was a natural antisocial when it came to people who weren't his friends and was always eager to disappear as well, so often the two of them would lie a little bit saying they had important school work to finish, and then they would go upstairs. Her poor mother was so distressed upon the visit of the French that she barely questioned a thing, Natalia wasn't complaining about that.

Mr. Delgrange wasn't too bad, he seemed very quiet much like his own daughter; too bad it seemed to be difficult for him to pass a little bit of his own quietness to his wife, whose voice would haunt the Yaxleys for the rest of their days. If Mrs. Delgrange hadn't been as tiring, Ion Apostu would've adored her, for the French woman seemed to despise British almost as much as he did. Natalia did her best to ignore them, but she was a victim of a good handle of comments from both Mrs. and Miss. Delgrange about many things regarding her person: ' _why does she spend that much time in the garden? That surely must not been very acceptable for a lady nor healthy, with these low temperatures you brits have all year round'_ or ' _Why are you eating so much quantity, Cherie? You surely would want to get a husband, no?_ ' all her questions were of coursed followed by this innocent smile, both French women seemed to be masters at. Natalia was indeed very lucky that in most occasions, she had counted with her aunt being there to defend her in the more lovelies of ways, always careful of not being too harsh since Petra Yaxley wouldn't have approved of her sister being too disrespectful.

Her cousins were another reason for her annoyance, since just like every time they met, they were behaving like an absolute pain in the arse. Simon even said that they made her seem mature. Giving that it was far too cold for them to play sports in the outdoors, since it was snowing; they had no other option but to stay inside for some very large amounts of time. Perhaps if any of them had had the talent to or been of age, in Simon's case, they could've performed an atmospheric charm. Natalia was however, grateful for Matei, the youngest, since he didn't seem to share any of his brothers' annoying traits but instead enjoyed accompanying Natalia to the stables and would just chat with her as they brushed their horses and the others two were left in the manor for Simon to bear.

What was worst of the whole situation was that the people in whom she'd usually seek for comfort where too busy to even pay her the time of the day. Her father managed to balance his time between entertaining the French while avoiding Ion's sharp mouth when it came to him, and he used the remaining of his time working in his study. Sebastian didn't seem to be freed from that horrendous fiancée of his for a second, and when he was, his soon to be in laws where there. Aunt Sylvania talked to her every once in a while, but given that her kids were little savages and that she was involved in a new argument with her sister every single time the two were in the same room, she wasn't an option either.

She was lying on her brother's bed drowsily, with her arm and one of her legs hanging, almost touching the ground. Simon was instead picking up some potions he kept over his desk and he thought would be helpful to have at Hogwarts once they departed the next day. They had been excused from tea time because they were supposed to be doing some reading for History of Magic, which was of course, a big fat lie.

"I can't believe you left me by myself yesterday" she complained with a frown, knowing well enough her brother's back was facing her and he couldn't see any of the faces she was playing "I had to play chest with tata for hours while you were off having fun"

"I already told you, it was for members only"

"And you couldn't take me as your plus one?"

"There was not such a thing as a plus one, and if there was, I still wouldn't have taken you"

They were of course talking about the party held at Rabastan Lestrange's mannor, Hippolytus cousin and as well, a loyal member of the cause. It had been just a mere informality where the youngest members of the cause reunited and had some fun in between so many plans for getting rid of the existence of muggles and ill-mannered creatures as such. It had indeed been refreshing thing to have at moments like such, just drinking and chatting away. There had been a few girls in there, most of them engaged to some of the members and a few that were already wives, like it was the case of Bellatrix Lestrange. He had been forced by his mother, however, much to his displeasure, to take his older cousin as well, Viktor, who was already eighteen and old enough to find interest in it. The young lad had been nothing but a nightmare, drinking more than he was capable of and flirting with some already compromised English witches all while being in the middle of an engagement himself, going to a primarily all boys school had surely done him not good when it came to social events that included females; Simon regretted at that moment not having taken his sister, for he knew that the moment she got annoyed she'd pull her wand out and hex Merlin out of their cousin in no time, without getting hexed back, of course, since she was a girl; not being a girl himself, Simon had to swallow with bitterness all of the annoyance he was feeling for his cousin in order to avoid a scene.

However, as much as she complained about it, it had perhaps not been all bad to stay home instead of going to the party. Why, you may ask, well, that was all thanks to her remaining cousins with whom she saw herself obliged to spend the night playing games and rolling her eyes every time they'd argue.

Given that Jane was out of the country, visiting relatives in Scotland and not being good friends with any other girl in their year to feel free to owl so they could make plans. Sebastian and Eponine left too, towards some friends of her brother's whom he rarely got to see and Natalia wasn't stupid enough as to ask to go with them because she knew that a. her mother wouldn't allow her, for she was too young to hang out among wizards and witches who were already engaged or even married and b. she would much rather face boredom than to spend a minute more than necessary with Eponine. Natalia was left by herself during New Year's Eve with no other company but that of her two younger cousins. They had dinner together with the adults in the house, played some chest with her grandfather while everyone else had tea and then she left towards the drawing room with Matei and Luca, the older of those two seeming to feel just as displeased as Natalia did regarding how their new years eve night was looking like, since he had expected to be invited to the same party his brother and Simon had gone off to.

She was busy brushing Peaches' fur as the Romanian brothers argued whom the exploding snaps they were holding and wanted to play with belonged to so they could decide who should start off first.

"They're mine! I bought them last Holidays, dumbass"

"Stop lying Matei, I bought them at the beginning of the year after your stupid owl broke my old ones"

"You left those at home, don't you remember? That's why I brought mine here"

Natalia could do nothing more but to ignore the yelling, for Romanian may be a pretty language but it's not as much when its being used in the way her cousins were doing it.

"Would you just drop it? " she said after she was finished with her pet bunny, letting it hop off her lap as she stood up and walked closer where the boys were standing with threatening looks in their eyes "I'll be starting" she said, handing her hand so they'd drop the cards over her palm.

"Fine" Luca, who was holding them let out with annoyance "but first, I want to prove my little brother that these are mine"

"and how're you planning on doing that, dorcus?" she asked.

"Well, with a relocarea spell, obviously"

To that, she frowned, not familiar with the spell's name In that language since when it came to magic, she preferred to stick to English.

"What's that?"

His cousin chuckled, on a mocking way and seemed ready to start making fun of her for whatever reason, but then his younger brother, and the one who seemed to be the only to get along with their cousin, explained.

"It'll tell us who the original buyer was"

"Oh, so like a relocating spell!" she said, the last part in English.

She had learn about that one so long ago, back in their second year, that she barely remembered of its existence since it was a spell she had never found the need to use, but she could remember a thing or two about the logics of it and what It required to be performed, which was mainly, the item one wanted to know whose buyer was and of course, the presumed buyer had to be present as well.

Thankfully the brothers began performing the spell way before she had the time to say anything, since she was about to tell them they wouldn't be able to do it just then since they were minors, but then remembered that Romania's laws regarding the use of magic outside school performed by students wasn't as badly looked over as it was in the United Kingdom. From the age of fourteen, a wizard or a witch could begin making use of their magic whatever way they pleased, and their wands were free to do so pretty much everywhere.

At the end of the day, the cards belonged to neither of them, since they realized were Victor's, Matei had grabbed them by mistake, leaving his back in Romania; Luca remembered he had lent his to a school mate who stayed for Christmas.

The rest of the night went on uneventfully. They played some exploding snaps and Natalia managed to somehow lose every time, which made her grow tired of it sooner than expected, however, in her defense, she thought her cousins were cheating. After that, they had Strinky bring them some ice cream, given that all the adults, except the kids' grandparents had left for the opera, and no one could tell them the drawing room was no place to eat ice cream. They played some more cards and also some other games and soon, the day passed and it was a new year, 1977.

She went to sleep shortly after that, leaving her cousins to keep on arguing over a game of skittles. Just before she closed her eyes, she glanced one last time towards the pair of gloves that still rested over her nightstand, unused and whose buyer she still did not know its name, yet, but she was planning on finding out soon.

Back at the train station she couldn't help but to tap the ground with her foot repeatedly, standing on her toenails every now and then and using her brother's shoulder as some kind of support, much to his annoyance. She was looking for Jane, but being the platform being crowded with so many other students it was rather a difficult task. She guessed that perhaps her best friend was already inside their compartment, but that would be odd since they always reunited outside.

Her father was giving Simon some kind of advice regarding something to do with the scouting of more people for the cause, thing that couldn't interest Natalia on the least. If it were up to her, she'd have left already in order to find Jane and perhaps tell her a little about all the news she had, but Petra Yaxley had told her to wait until her father could properly give their goodbyes.

"Looking for someone, little sister?"

She rose her head up to encounter Sebastian's eyes, which were very similar to her own. They hadn't talked much at all during the last few days, which was a shame, since she adored her brother very much. She was lucky that fiancé of his had departed earlier that morning, along with her parents.

"Just Jane" she sighed, looking out one more time, this time convicing herself that for some strange reason the other girl would just have to be inside, for she wasn't one to be late.

" _Really_?"

And she couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something about the tone in which he said that word made all her senses stand alert. He had said that very casually, but there was a wry hint, beneath it that made her feel weary.

"Who else would I be looking for?"

She didn't get an answer after that, instead he looked at her for a good few minutes, before shaking his head and turning to talk to his mother, soon forgetting about it all. His sister, instead, was not able to let go of the subject just like that: the way she saw it, there could be two options; one, he hadn't meant anything by it, she was just feeling a little weary because of what she had done during the party, or two, he somehow knew something he wasn't supposed to, but that was simply ridiculous, she hadn't told anyone, and neither had Sirius Black, or so she assumed.

Soon enough they all said their goodbyes. She kissed her mother on both cheeks and allowed her father to hug her for a whole minute, promising to be the best version of herself while at school. When it came the time of hugging her eldest brother, she found herself not quite knowing what to do after their exchange of words, which was odd, considering how natural it was for her to interact with Sebastian; however, he didn't' give her time to decide anything, after he had given his brother a small pat on the back, he hugged Natalia just as if nothing had happened.

"And help your sister set her luggage inside the compartment, son" was the last thing their father had said to them as the hopped into the Hogwarts express.

Never being the kind of family to keep on waving through the window, considering that to be quite silly given that they had already said their proper goodbyes, soon the twins walked towards their usual spot, hoping to see their friends there as well.

"Why won't you levitate your own stuff?" Simon complained, as they were close to the gate they were supposed to get into. He was trying to avoid people while levitating two whole trunks plus some extra things on the sides. Natalia on the other hand had only to worry about carrying Matilda on her arms.

"Because papa told you to do it yourself" she said casually, walking a little bit ahead of him and making the boy roll his eyes on annoyance.

She got the door open; ready to see her best friend, to instead find Hippolytus Lestrange struggling to keep his luggage in place, as it seemed too big to fit where it was supposed to go. He greeted them lightly, not taking his eyes off to where they were supposed to be.

"Have you seen Jane?" the girl asked, as she placed Matilda over one of the seats and her own brother began doing as Hippolytus.

"No" he said with a dismissible air

"Did she perhaps leave any of her things in here?"

"I don't know Natalia, shut it!" the boy shouted, holding his wand so strongly that she thought it was going to break

The girl rolled her eyes upon the unrequested rudeness, finding it completely unnecessary since she was only asking something very inoffensive. Paying attention to what the boy was doing she couldn't help but thinking how on earth did some people believe boys to be smarter than girls, for of course that trunk wasn't going to fit in that tiny place with the crazy amount of things the boy had packed. Taking off her own wand and deciding she had had enough of not talking to her best friend, she quickly muttered " _disminuendo_ ", walking away before Hippolytus Lestrange could even understand what had happened as his trunk began to shrink, cursing to himself for not thinking of that before.

"Take Peaches out her box!" she demanded to her brother before she officially left.

Seeing as the express was just beginning to move, there were still some people outside their own compartments. Her own being surrounded by other Slytherins from different years made it not quite as unpleasant as it'd have been otherwise for the blonde to wonder around, looking for her friend. Being a sixth year, that meant that the youngest children would simply move away for her not to even need to ask them to do so as she passed by, and the oldest students were contempt with a small nod.

Jane's disappearance was for her an absolute mystery. She knew the Abbott girl ever since they were both tiny first years and hadn't even been through puberty yet and she knew very well the other witch's friends list was pretty much the same as her own. After knocking on Constance, Rue and Dolores' compartment and getting a negative answer, she really had no more options regarding where she could possibly be.

Then, as she saw some little first year running around, being chased by one of her house's prefects, she remembered the only other person with whom Jane could possibly be. Feeling quite stupid, cause that should've been her first idea regarding where to look, she made her way towards where she knew most Gryffindor's took as theirs, which was right by the end of the train.

She walked with both arms crossed over her chest, a genuine horrified expression on her face as she dodged a very well performed bat-boogey hex by some Ravenclaw second year boys. Not that she was claiming younger kids in Slytherin were much better, but at least they kept their idiotic tendencies only for their own house to see and judge.

Once she reached the last couple of compartments, she noticed how there wasn't as many people outside anymore, and she guessed that must've been because the older students preferred to stay inside, which was understandable, considering those little beasts were outside doing Merlin knew what with those little wands of theirs. Never having the pleasure of visiting Potter in such circumstances, she had no idea which exactly his compartment was, so that only left her with no other option but begging calling on strangers doors, a very dreadful task she was begging Merlin by some kind of miracle, she wouldn't have to do.

Well, Merlin listened and granted her wish. Just as she was about to knock on compartment L2, she couldn't help but hear her name being called by a very familiar voice, belonging to a person to whom she had been worried to see again, having forgotten of such preoccupation when she had started looking for Jane.

"Yaxley? What are you doing here?" Sirius Black asked, folding his arms over his chest. He was looking at her unsure of what to make of her.

Although the first reaction her body commanded her to do upon hearing his voice was to blush, she managed to somehow avoid that to a certain degree, turning her face towards the other side pretending to be looking for something, so she wouldn't have to look at his face.

"I'm looking for Jane, have you seen here?"

"Why would she be over here? Snakes seat on the other end, you know that"

"I know I know that" she said annoyed, slowly shame and uncertainness drifting away from her head. That was the good thing about Sirius Black, you couldn't be too confused about him or feel too much of anything else but annoyance as soon as he opened his mouth "But she isn't there so I thought she may be with Potter"

"Oh"

Quickly turning her eyes to analyze him, she was able to tell he seemed a little relief. Then the thought that perhaps he had been worried about her looking for him crossed her head, making her want to roll her eyes at herself. Not only had she been stupid enough to think perhaps Sirius Black was changing, but she had also forgotten about all she had planned regarding the boy in question.

After their very intimate encounter back in her chambers, she had analyzed every single possible way in which she could react towards him when they were to meet: avoiding him until graduation day, cornering him and obliviating him after, meeting after midnight somewhere private to figure out where they stood; she had thought about all those options and even more, only to land on the one she had decided was what she was going to do, which included playing dumb for him to reach and then see what would lead from there. Of course her plan had been forgotten all of the sudden when he found her near his own compartment.

"Do you think this is about the whole fake dating thing?"

Deciding not to start a new argument so soon into the year, she chose not to bring up what she had figured was what he was thinking just minutes ago. Instead, she sighed and answered to his question on the most honest possible way- something really relieving, really, given that the only person with whom she had been able to discuss it with didn't really care what she thought of it.

"Yes, also known as the worst plan those two could've ever come up with"

"I'll agree with you on that one"

Looking into his eyes, she could see he was telling the truth. She cursed at herself for the feeling she got upon hearing he was on the same page as she was regarding said scheme.

However, she couldn't let herself be distracted by such feelings and thoughts, for if she did she'd think about what happened again, and if she did, chances were her cheeks would go so red they'd match the train's colour. Instead, she opted to focus again on her reason for being there: Jane.

"So, can you take me there?"

The boy seemed to think about for a few seconds. Why? She had no idea, not seeing what the harm would be for her to go and find her friend, but then again… that was Sirius Black with whom she was talking to, a boy who one day told you he found you insufferable and the other was making out with you in your room while promising to do it again, looking completely horrified upon the thought of you looking for him later; anything could be expected from him.

Nodding slowly, Sirius Black gestured for her to follow behind.

They walked upon the very end of the train and he told her to wait outside as he made his way inside, making her roll her eyes. What damage could it make for her to get in with him? She was only looking for her friend, for Morgana's sake. However, she wasn't going to complain. She'd wait for him to get Jane out and then they'd both leave and their making out session and whatever had happened during the Yule Holidays between the boy and herself would be very well forgotten on her part.

About a few seconds later, as Natalia grew impatient, he popped his head out of the door, looking behind her, making her turn as well to find what was so interesting for him to be looking at, but finding nothing.

"Come in! Quick" he shouted on a whisper, getting a frown to for on the girl's face, as she slowly made her way inside the compartment, only to have Sirius yank her arm to get her there to fasten up.

"What on earth-

And she couldn't finish up with her complaining and whatever it was coming next, because after being inside for a second it was evident they weren't in a compartment. It appeared as if they were inside one of the express bathrooms. However, her confused frown which consisted of her mouth slightly open and having her face a bit crooked aggravated even more upon seeing Sirius perform an anti alohomora charm to the door along with muffliato charm, to muffle whatever sound he didn't' want other people to listen.

"What are you-

Once again, she wasn't allowed to finish her sentence. This time, she hadn't stop out of surprise or anything else, but instead by Sirius Black's lips over hers. She felt one of his arms passing around her waist, while his other hand rested softly towards her right cheek; regarding the kissing, there was nothing soft about that. Quickly, she managed to push the surprise away, and instead respond to what the boy was doing, not that she was complaining about it either. In no time, she had both her hands pressed against his muscular chest and she could feel his leg softly resting between the two of her own, as she was pushed against the door.

Although it seemed as if both teenager wanted the act to last for longer, they needed to breath, so they had to pull apart at some point. When they did, their faces were so close one to the other that they could feel their air crashing against their faces. Their eyes seemed to be connected one with the other, as if managing some kind of nonverbal conversation

"Why are you-

"I'm a man of my word" he simply said and then, proceeded to kiss her again.

Both teens lost track of time as they continued on doing something they seemed to be enjoying quite a lot. Their hands moved here and there, and there were some successful neck sucking attempts. Both students were still on their clothes, but it wasn't difficult to see how they were pulling on them to avoid their lips to roam over the most amount of naked skin as possible.

As Sirius Black bit into her neck, she couldn't help but to allow a small moan to escape her mouth, giving the boy a rush of unnecessary incentive to keep on doing as he was.

It is impossible to guess for how long the two could've kept on going, but hadn't it been for a rushed knock on the door, it'd had probably kept on going until their mouths got sore. Slowly pulling away, they waited look expectantly, hoping for the knocker to disappear, trying to calm their breathings off, but whoever it was behind that door seemed desperate to get in, as it did it once again.

Realizing whereas they liked it or not they had leave soon, both wizards moved further one from the other, not even looking at each other and trying to fix up their clothes so they'd appear normal. As if nothing had happened, they started into the mirrors and tried to do as much as they were able to regarding their swollen lips. Natalia even had to throw all her hair in front of her, trying to hide that very harsh and red looking neck of hers.

At some point they realized whoever had been knocking on the door had grown frustrated and left, for they couldn't hear any other sound coming from outside.

Daring to look at him for the first time since their snogging session finished, she took a few seconds to analyze his face, given that he was distracted fixing up the shirt under his sweater, and would most likely not notice. She tried tracing for any signs of regret or embarrassment, but there were none; instead, he seemed pretty much unbothered; that information certainly didn't displease her.

She was dying to say something, ask anything, but she really couldn't think of the appropriate words to come out her mouth; and she always knew what to say! It seemed like every single thing that occurred to her to ask would be considered as inappropriate by him. So she just waited, keeping her eyes on him, hoping the stare would make him soon be the first on to talk.

Luckily, it worked.

He turned around, and just for a split of a second he ran his eyes over her appearance as well. Whatever it was he thought of it, he kept it well hidden on his face of his.

"Look, as surprising as it will sound, I've been giving you and _this_ some thought over the last week" he informed, trying to look relaxed as he talked and almost managing to do so completely "and I've come to a decision"

"Which is…

"Well, I'm not in love with you or anything, let's get that clear"

"I'm not in love with you either, dorcus!" she said defensibly

"Good to know. Anyway, as I was saying: I'm not in love with you or anything, but as you can see, I enjoy some of the things we do very much, and you do too-

"Well, you don't know that. I've never said I enjoyed-

"Yes you do" he cut her off with a voice that indicated it was the most obvious thing in the world, which considering the fact he had her moaning over some kisses just a couple minutes ago, did enter the definition of 'obvious' "Anyway, given that we both enjoy this and we're not the kind of people who like restraining themselves from things get pleasure on, I've got an idea"

Interest, she gestured for him to keep talking.

"Let's keep on doing this. Really, what's the reason for us not to? We don't even need to talk to each other, and no one has to know. It's as if everything will keep on being the same, but we'll be getting at least something pleasant out of it" he looked at her, waiting for her to say something- oppose to it, anything.

"Alright" was all she said, on a soft voice that he almost missed.

Although her words weren't very strong, she seemed decided, which is why he nodded.

"We can't tell anyone about this, Yaxley. If anyone ever came to find it'd screw us both, you know that, right?"

"I'm not stupid, Black" she refuted, rolling her eyes on the process as she waved her hair away from her eye, careful enough not to push it too far for it to expose her neck "I'd have much more to lose if anyone ever found out I'm doing anything but chatting with you"

"Perfect then" He smiled wryly, trying to hide the fact that he was indeed satisfied from the result of their deal "Also, anybody means anybody, clear? That means not telling Jane Abbot" upon seeing she was about to protest, he quickly added "I'm not telling James either, to keep it fair"

That seemed to ease her eagerness to complain, and she nodded, agreeing with the whole thing.

He was taking off the charms and they were getting ready to leave already. She'd be going off first, after they made sure no one else was outside- given that was one of the boy's bathrooms; he'd follow a few minutes after. Then, as the charms were gone and he was about to get his head out to inspect in case there was anyone outside that could possibly see them, she opened her mouth again.

"So when will we be meeting again?"

Unwillingly, Sirius couldn't help but to get a cocky smile creeping all over his face, as he faced the girl who looked at him not quite understanding the reasoning behind his reaction.

"I haven't even left the room and you already want more" he mocked.

"Oh shut up" she rumbled, looking away as she crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks going bright pink.

He couldn't help but snicker a little, but chose not to start an argument so soon into the day yet, so he dropped the mockery.

"We can talk about it tomorrow at Transfigurations. I figure the boys and I got some planning to do since we haven't seen each other in so long."

She nodded, still refusing to look at him.

"Can you please check if there's anyone there so I can leave?"

Doing as he was told, Sirius was unable to spot any other student outside. He figured it was already that time of the tract where most people where all locked in their compartments, chatting and getting a bit sleepy from all the candy they would get from the trolley.

Quickly, he gestured for her to leave, and with a nod on her part, she did so without another word between the two of them being exchanged. He watched her from the inside of the bathroom until she was far gone in the distance and there was no more trace of her until he decided to get out himself.

Allowing himself a final sigh before opening his compartment door- which was just two compartments away from the place where he and Natalia Yaxley had just been making out, he allowed himself to think that this little plan of theirs could either turn out really well or be a complete disaster; good thing he was a Gryffindor and didn't mind taking some risks in order for a thrill.

Having been over the story she was supposed to tell her brother and Hippolytus as soon as she stepped into their compartment, she made her way in. A sigh full of relieved escaped her mouth when she noticed that none of them were present; instead, the only other person besides herself in the room was Jane Abbott, who although clearly sleepy, had stood up as soon as she had made her way in. The bunny which had been resting over her lap clearly frightened upon the quick movement.

"Nat!" she cried happily as she stood up to hug her friend, who she hadn't seen for two complete weeks and to whom she had plenty to talk about "Where on Merlin's name were you? I was looking for you everywhere!"

"Where was I? Where were you, miss?" she said back, after their hug was finished. She knew that said question would get Jane talking about Potter, which would hopefully forget about her own question.

"Oh, Natalia!" she said on the dreamiest of voices ever, as she took the shortest witch's hand and lead her over to the seats "You won't believe all the things that happened over Christmas!"

And as Jane Abbott began spilling the beans about how she had agreed to be James Potter's fake girlfriend in order to attempt making Lily Evans jealous, Natalia listened to all her story with attention and interest.

However, deep in the back of her mind, the witch worked on suppressing a little smile which threatened to form every now and then. It was really ironic, really, possibly having a bigger secret than that one she was being told about, and that one secret was supposed to be known by two people only, herself and Black. Being a sucker for knowing things others didn't, she couldn't help but feel her current situation was indeed very pleasant.


	15. chapter 15

_**Hello everyone! Been a while but here I am. Before starting the chapter just wanted to clear some things out to /Immortal ninjaaa who was kind enough to take the time and write a few reviews over the last couple of chapters! I'll like to address some of your questions and concerns which some other people may as well have!**_

 _ **Regarding your first review, about you thinking I'm almost bashing my OC, I'm very sorry it comes out that way! I actually really love Natalia's character because she appears to be very innocent to me and reminds me of some other fictional characters from TV shows, movies and books that I also adore, while having her own quirky personality as well. However, as much as I think of her as adorable, I've got to address some of her flaws because whereas she may not have many physical ones, she has a lot of self entitlement issues, among others; she talks highly of herself during most dialogues, and she actually means that, so I think someone has to point out some flaws of hers here and there, and me being the writter, I suppose that's my work.**_

 _ **Secondly, sorry you think Hyppolytus is a riddiculous name, but let's be honest: aren't most magical names like that? Think of Walburga, Cygnus, Rubeus, Filius, etc. Also, the reason why I'm using him instead of Rabastan or another canon character will be clear further in the story, just be patient.**_

 _ **I know pizzas are Italian and not American. I'm Italian myself so I guess that's something I should know haha. But lets face it, the States are very well known for their giagantic pizzas and many people associate that country with them when they think of this food. And I agree completely! Pizzas are something out of this world, one of my favourite foods without doubts!**_

 _ **Thanks for pointing the lack of magical action out! I agree with you and I seem to have forgotten that she is indeed, a witch and should be showing off some of her skills every once and then in the story despite her not being very good in Transfigurations. She's however highly skilled when it comes to the care of magical creatures and she's fairly good with potions, and I'll try to reflect that a little bit more from now on. I hope I can get that right. And yeah, I'm sure there most be charms to clean and cook, but remember this OC is very spoiled and most of the time gets things done for her by either her elves, family or friends, so it's possible she may've not been very familiar with those spells.**_

 _ **Thought I managed to make this clear, but in case not, here goes a wee explanation about the whole Remus thingy: no, she doesn't love him or anything near it. She met Remus Lupin back when she was feeling miserable because the guy she thought may have feelings for had treated her not as nicely, and its mentioned how she's always ignored by other boys because they find her annoying (with the exeption of Rosier, who's a creep ) anyway, being a person who adores attention, of course as soon as someone's nice to her she'll start getting ideas. Also, let's not forget she's very dramy, unexperienced and naive: some random boy could give her chocolates and she will think he's in love with her) Also, she doesn't know about Remus' furry problem, as neither does anyone but teachers and the marauders. She doesn't even think he's a halfblood, as she expressed when talking to Jane, because she's so sure about her purity ideas that she doesn't even thinks is possible for her to like people who aren't pure**_

 _ **Finally (yes, I'll shut up now, I'm sorry! haha) Of course there are rumours about the war; James even mentiones his dad saying something about Natalia's family being involved in it but she simply does not care about political things, neither is she ever informed about them: her father and brothers treat her as a child and don't think something as obscure as killing (regartless of the cause) would be something that she should know more about (she knows the basics of it) and her mother doesn't think her capable of doing much, so why should she tell her about something she considers she couldn't even comprehend?**_

 _ **Anyway, sorry about this whole rant but just wanted to answer these ones! If you'd like to have a deeper discussion, please DM me! Also, feel free to leave any kind of comments and reviews, as long as they're respectful! With no further delay, here you go:**_

 _Never mind what you're looking for_  
 _You'll always find what you're looking for_  
 _Sometimes it's blinding in the race_  
 _I'll be here smiling when I see your face_

The rest of her week had been tedious, but nothing too difficult for her to manage since she always came up with a good excuse to hide in her room when people got too tiring, which was often. She was lucky that her brother was a natural antisocial when it came to people who weren't his friends and was always eager to disappear as well, so often the two of them would lie a little bit saying they had important school work to finish, and then they would go upstairs. Her poor mother was so distressed upon the visit of the French that she barely questioned a thing, Natalia wasn't complaining about that.

Mr. Delgrange wasn't too bad, he seemed very quiet much like his own daughter; too bad it seemed to be difficult for him to pass a little bit of his own quietness to his wife, whose voice would haunt the Yaxleys for the rest of their days. If Mrs. Delgrange hadn't been as tiring, Ion Apostu would've adored her, for the French woman seemed to despise British almost as much as he did. Natalia did her best to ignore them, but she was a victim of a good handle of comments from both Mrs. and Miss. Delgrange about many things regarding her person: ' _why does she spend that much time in the garden? That surely must not been very acceptable for a lady nor healthy, with these low temperatures you brits have all year round'_ or ' _Why are you eating so much quantity, Cherie? You surely would want to get a husband, no?_ ' all her questions were of coursed followed by this innocent smile, both French women seemed to be masters at. Natalia was indeed very lucky that in most occasions, she had counted with her aunt being there to defend her in the more lovelies of ways, always careful of not being too harsh since Petra Yaxley wouldn't have approved of her sister being too disrespectful.

Her cousins were another reason for her annoyance, since just like every time they met, they were behaving like an absolute pain in the arse. Simon even said that they made her seem mature. Giving that it was far too cold for them to play sports in the outdoors, since it was snowing; they had no other option but to stay inside for some very large amounts of time. Perhaps if any of them had had the talent to or been of age, in Simon's case, they could've performed an atmospheric charm. Natalia was however, grateful for Matei, the youngest, since he didn't seem to share any of his brothers' annoying traits but instead enjoyed accompanying Natalia to the stables and would just chat with her as they brushed their horses and the others two were left in the manor for Simon to bear.

What was worst of the whole situation was that the people in whom she'd usually seek for comfort where too busy to even pay her the time of the day. Her father managed to balance his time between entertaining the French while avoiding Ion's sharp mouth when it came to him, and he used the remaining of his time working in his study. Sebastian didn't seem to be freed from that horrendous fiancée of his for a second, and when he was, his soon to be in laws where there. Aunt Sylvania talked to her every once in a while, but given that her kids were little savages and that she was involved in a new argument with her sister every single time the two were in the same room, she wasn't an option either.

She was lying on her brother's bed drowsily, with her arm and one of her legs hanging, almost touching the ground. Simon was instead picking up some potions he kept over his desk and he thought would be helpful to have at Hogwarts once they departed the next day. They had been excused from tea time because they were supposed to be doing some reading for History of Magic, which was of course, a big fat lie.

"I can't believe you left me by myself yesterday" she complained with a frown, knowing well enough her brother's back was facing her and he couldn't see any of the faces she was playing "I had to play chest with tata for hours while you were off having fun"

"I already told you, it was for members only"

"And you couldn't take me as your plus one?"

"There was not such a thing as a plus one, and if there was, I still wouldn't have taken you"

They were of course talking about the party held at Rabastan Lestrange's mannor, Hippolytus cousin and as well, a loyal member of the cause. It had been just a mere informality where the youngest members of the cause reunited and had some fun in between so many plans for getting rid of the existence of muggles and ill-mannered creatures as such. It had indeed been refreshing thing to have at moments like such, just drinking and chatting away. There had been a few girls in there, most of them engaged to some of the members and a few that were already wives, like it was the case of Bellatrix Lestrange. He had been forced by his mother, however, much to his displeasure, to take his older cousin as well, Viktor, who was already eighteen and old enough to find interest in it. The young lad had been nothing but a nightmare, drinking more than he was capable of and flirting with some already compromised English witches all while being in the middle of an engagement himself, going to a primarily all boys school had surely done him not good when it came to social events that included females; Simon regretted at that moment not having taken his sister, for he knew that the moment she got annoyed she'd pull her wand out and hex Merlin out of their cousin in no time, without getting hexed back, of course, since she was a girl; not being a girl himself, Simon had to swallow with bitterness all of the annoyance he was feeling for his cousin in order to avoid a scene.

However, as much as she complained about it, it had perhaps not been all bad to stay home instead of going to the party. Why, you may ask, well, that was all thanks to her remaining cousins with whom she saw herself obliged to spend the night playing games and rolling her eyes every time they'd argue.

Given that Jane was out of the country, visiting relatives in Scotland and not being good friends with any other girl in their year to feel free to owl so they could make plans. Sebastian and Eponine left too, towards some friends of her brother's whom he rarely got to see and Natalia wasn't stupid enough as to ask to go with them because she knew that a. her mother wouldn't allow her, for she was too young to hang out among wizards and witches who were already engaged or even married and b. she would much rather face boredom than to spend a minute more than necessary with Eponine. Natalia was left by herself during New Year's Eve with no other company but that of her two younger cousins. They had dinner together with the adults in the house, played some chest with her grandfather while everyone else had tea and then she left towards the drawing room with Matei and Luca, the older of those two seeming to feel just as displeased as Natalia did regarding how their new years eve night was looking like, since he had expected to be invited to the same party his brother and Simon had gone off to.

She was busy brushing Peaches' fur as the Romanian brothers argued whom the exploding snaps they were holding and wanted to play with belonged to so they could decide who should start off first.

"They're mine! I bought them last Holidays, dumbass"

"Stop lying Matei, I bought them at the beginning of the year after your stupid owl broke my old ones"

"You left those at home, don't you remember? That's why I brought mine here"

Natalia could do nothing more but to ignore the yelling, for Romanian may be a pretty language but it's not as much when its being used in the way her cousins were doing it.

"Would you just drop it? " she said after she was finished with her pet bunny, letting it hop off her lap as she stood up and walked closer where the boys were standing with threatening looks in their eyes "I'll be starting" she said, handing her hand so they'd drop the cards over her palm.

"Fine" Luca, who was holding them let out with annoyance "but first, I want to prove my little brother that these are mine"

"and how're you planning on doing that, dorcus?" she asked.

"Well, with a relocarea spell, obviously"

To that, she frowned, not familiar with the spell's name In that language since when it came to magic, she preferred to stick to English.

"What's that?"

His cousin chuckled, on a mocking way and seemed ready to start making fun of her for whatever reason, but then his younger brother, and the one who seemed to be the only to get along with their cousin, explained.

"It'll tell us who the original buyer was"

"Oh, so like a relocating spell!" she said, the last part in English.

She had learn about that one so long ago, back in their second year, that she barely remembered of its existence since it was a spell she had never found the need to use, but she could remember a thing or two about the logics of it and what It required to be performed, which was mainly, the item one wanted to know whose buyer was and of course, the presumed buyer had to be present as well.

Thankfully the brothers began performing the spell way before she had the time to say anything, since she was about to tell them they wouldn't be able to do it just then since they were minors, but then remembered that Romania's laws regarding the use of magic outside school performed by students wasn't as badly looked over as it was in the United Kingdom. From the age of fourteen, a wizard or a witch could begin making use of their magic whatever way they pleased, and their wands were free to do so pretty much everywhere.

At the end of the day, the cards belonged to neither of them, since they realized were Victor's, Matei had grabbed them by mistake, leaving his back in Romania; Luca remembered he had lent his to a school mate who stayed for Christmas.

The rest of the night went on uneventfully. They played some exploding snaps and Natalia managed to somehow lose every time, which made her grow tired of it sooner than expected, however, in her defense, she thought her cousins were cheating. After that, they had Strinky bring them some ice cream, given that all the adults, except the kids' grandparents had left for the opera, and no one could tell them the drawing room was no place to eat ice cream. They played some more cards and also some other games and soon, the day passed and it was a new year, 1977.

She went to sleep shortly after that, leaving her cousins to keep on arguing over a game of skittles. Just before she closed her eyes, she glanced one last time towards the pair of gloves that still rested over her nightstand, unused and whose buyer she still did not know its name, yet, but she was planning on finding out soon.

Back at the train station she couldn't help but to tap the ground with her foot repeatedly, standing on her toenails every now and then and using her brother's shoulder as some kind of support, much to his annoyance. She was looking for Jane, but being the platform being crowded with so many other students it was rather a difficult task. She guessed that perhaps her best friend was already inside their compartment, but that would be odd since they always reunited outside.

Her father was giving Simon some kind of advice regarding something to do with the scouting of more people for the cause, thing that couldn't interest Natalia on the least. If it were up to her, she'd have left already in order to find Jane and perhaps tell her a little about all the news she had, but Petra Yaxley had told her to wait until her father could properly give their goodbyes.

"Looking for someone, little sister?"

She rose her head up to encounter Sebastian's eyes, which were very similar to her own. They hadn't talked much at all during the last few days, which was a shame, since she adored her brother very much. She was lucky that fiancé of his had departed earlier that morning, along with her parents.

"Just Jane" she sighed, looking out one more time, this time convicing herself that for some strange reason the other girl would just have to be inside, for she wasn't one to be late.

" _Really_?"

And she couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something about the tone in which he said that word made all her senses stand alert. He had said that very casually, but there was a wry hint, beneath it that made her feel weary.

"Who else would I be looking for?"

She didn't get an answer after that, instead he looked at her for a good few minutes, before shaking his head and turning to talk to his mother, soon forgetting about it all. His sister, instead, was not able to let go of the subject just like that: the way she saw it, there could be two options; one, he hadn't meant anything by it, she was just feeling a little weary because of what she had done during the party, or two, he somehow knew something he wasn't supposed to, but that was simply ridiculous, she hadn't told anyone, and neither had Sirius Black, or so she assumed.

Soon enough they all said their goodbyes. She kissed her mother on both cheeks and allowed her father to hug her for a whole minute, promising to be the best version of herself while at school. When it came the time of hugging her eldest brother, she found herself not quite knowing what to do after their exchange of words, which was odd, considering how natural it was for her to interact with Sebastian; however, he didn't' give her time to decide anything, after he had given his brother a small pat on the back, he hugged Natalia just as if nothing had happened.

"And help your sister set her luggage inside the compartment, son" was the last thing their father had said to them as the hopped into the Hogwarts express.

Never being the kind of family to keep on waving through the window, considering that to be quite silly given that they had already said their proper goodbyes, soon the twins walked towards their usual spot, hoping to see their friends there as well.

"Why won't you levitate your own stuff?" Simon complained, as they were close to the gate they were supposed to get into. He was trying to avoid people while levitating two whole trunks plus some extra things on the sides. Natalia on the other hand had only to worry about carrying Matilda on her arms.

"Because papa told you to do it yourself" she said casually, walking a little bit ahead of him and making the boy roll his eyes on annoyance.

She got the door open; ready to see her best friend, to instead find Hippolytus Lestrange struggling to keep his luggage in place, as it seemed too big to fit where it was supposed to go. He greeted them lightly, not taking his eyes off to where they were supposed to be.

"Have you seen Jane?" the girl asked, as she placed Matilda over one of the seats and her own brother began doing as Hippolytus.

"No" he said with a dismissible air

"Did she perhaps leave any of her things in here?"

"I don't know Natalia, shut it!" the boy shouted, holding his wand so strongly that she thought it was going to break

The girl rolled her eyes upon the unrequested rudeness, finding it completely unnecessary since she was only asking something very inoffensive. Paying attention to what the boy was doing she couldn't help but thinking how on earth did some people believe boys to be smarter than girls, for of course that trunk wasn't going to fit in that tiny place with the crazy amount of things the boy had packed. Taking off her own wand and deciding she had had enough of not talking to her best friend, she quickly muttered " _disminuendo_ ", walking away before Hippolytus Lestrange could even understand what had happened as his trunk began to shrink, cursing to himself for not thinking of that before.

"Take Peaches out her box!" she demanded to her brother before she officially left.

Seeing as the express was just beginning to move, there were still some people outside their own compartments. Her own being surrounded by other Slytherins from different years made it not quite as unpleasant as it'd have been otherwise for the blonde to wonder around, looking for her friend. Being a sixth year, that meant that the youngest children would simply move away for her not to even need to ask them to do so as she passed by, and the oldest students were contempt with a small nod.

Jane's disappearance was for her an absolute mystery. She knew the Abbott girl ever since they were both tiny first years and hadn't even been through puberty yet and she knew very well the other witch's friends list was pretty much the same as her own. After knocking on Constance, Rue and Dolores' compartment and getting a negative answer, she really had no more options regarding where she could possibly be.

Then, as she saw some little first year running around, being chased by one of her house's prefects, she remembered the only other person with whom Jane could possibly be. Feeling quite stupid, cause that should've been her first idea regarding where to look, she made her way towards where she knew most Gryffindor's took as theirs, which was right by the end of the train.

She walked with both arms crossed over her chest, a genuine horrified expression on her face as she dodged a very well performed bat-boogey hex by some Ravenclaw second year boys. Not that she was claiming younger kids in Slytherin were much better, but at least they kept their idiotic tendencies only for their own house to see and judge.

Once she reached the last couple of compartments, she noticed how there wasn't as many people outside anymore, and she guessed that must've been because the older students preferred to stay inside, which was understandable, considering those little beasts were outside doing Merlin knew what with those little wands of theirs. Never having the pleasure of visiting Potter in such circumstances, she had no idea which exactly his compartment was, so that only left her with no other option but begging calling on strangers doors, a very dreadful task she was begging Merlin by some kind of miracle, she wouldn't have to do.

Well, Merlin listened and granted her wish. Just as she was about to knock on compartment L2, she couldn't help but hear her name being called by a very familiar voice, belonging to a person to whom she had been worried to see again, having forgotten of such preoccupation when she had started looking for Jane.

"Yaxley? What are you doing here?" Sirius Black asked, folding his arms over his chest. He was looking at her unsure of what to make of her.

Although the first reaction her body commanded her to do upon hearing his voice was to blush, she managed to somehow avoid that to a certain degree, turning her face towards the other side pretending to be looking for something, so she wouldn't have to look at his face.

"I'm looking for Jane, have you seen here?"

"Why would she be over here? Snakes seat on the other end, you know that"

"I know I know that" she said annoyed, slowly shame and uncertainness drifting away from her head. That was the good thing about Sirius Black, you couldn't be too confused about him or feel too much of anything else but annoyance as soon as he opened his mouth "But she isn't there so I thought she may be with Potter"

"Oh"

Quickly turning her eyes to analyze him, she was able to tell he seemed a little relief. Then the thought that perhaps he had been worried about her looking for him crossed her head, making her want to roll her eyes at herself. Not only had she been stupid enough to think perhaps Sirius Black was changing, but she had also forgotten about all she had planned regarding the boy in question.

After their very intimate encounter back in her chambers, she had analyzed every single possible way in which she could react towards him when they were to meet: avoiding him until graduation day, cornering him and obliviating him after, meeting after midnight somewhere private to figure out where they stood; she had thought about all those options and even more, only to land on the one she had decided was what she was going to do, which included playing dumb for him to reach and then see what would lead from there. Of course her plan had been forgotten all of the sudden when he found her near his own compartment.

"Do you think this is about the whole fake dating thing?"

Deciding not to start a new argument so soon into the year, she chose not to bring up what she had figured was what he was thinking just minutes ago. Instead, she sighed and answered to his question on the most honest possible way- something really relieving, really, given that the only person with whom she had been able to discuss it with didn't really care what she thought of it.

"Yes, also known as the worst plan those two could've ever come up with"

"I'll agree with you on that one"

Looking into his eyes, she could see he was telling the truth. She cursed at herself for the feeling she got upon hearing he was on the same page as she was regarding said scheme.

However, she couldn't let herself be distracted by such feelings and thoughts, for if she did she'd think about what happened again, and if she did, chances were her cheeks would go so red they'd match the train's colour. Instead, she opted to focus again on her reason for being there: Jane.

"So, can you take me there?"

The boy seemed to think about for a few seconds. Why? She had no idea, not seeing what the harm would be for her to go and find her friend, but then again… that was Sirius Black with whom she was talking to, a boy who one day told you he found you insufferable and the other was making out with you in your room while promising to do it again, looking completely horrified upon the thought of you looking for him later; anything could be expected from him.

Nodding slowly, Sirius Black gestured for her to follow behind.

They walked upon the very end of the train and he told her to wait outside as he made his way inside, making her roll her eyes. What damage could it make for her to get in with him? She was only looking for her friend, for Morgana's sake. However, she wasn't going to complain. She'd wait for him to get Jane out and then they'd both leave and their making out session and whatever had happened during the Yule Holidays between the boy and herself would be very well forgotten on her part.

About a few seconds later, as Natalia grew impatient, he popped his head out of the door, looking behind her, making her turn as well to find what was so interesting for him to be looking at, but finding nothing.

"Come in! Quick" he shouted on a whisper, getting a frown to for on the girl's face, as she slowly made her way inside the compartment, only to have Sirius yank her arm to get her there to fasten up.

"What on earth-

And she couldn't finish up with her complaining and whatever it was coming next, because after being inside for a second it was evident they weren't in a compartment. It appeared as if they were inside one of the express bathrooms. However, her confused frown which consisted of her mouth slightly open and having her face a bit crooked aggravated even more upon seeing Sirius perform an anti alohomora charm to the door along with muffliato charm, to muffle whatever sound he didn't' want other people to listen.

"What are you-

Once again, she wasn't allowed to finish her sentence. This time, she hadn't stop out of surprise or anything else, but instead by Sirius Black's lips over hers. She felt one of his arms passing around her waist, while his other hand rested softly towards her right cheek; regarding the kissing, there was nothing soft about that. Quickly, she managed to push the surprise away, and instead respond to what the boy was doing, not that she was complaining about it either. In no time, she had both her hands pressed against his muscular chest and she could feel his leg softly resting between the two of her own, as she was pushed against the door.

Although it seemed as if both teenager wanted the act to last for longer, they needed to breath, so they had to pull apart at some point. When they did, their faces were so close one to the other that they could feel their air crashing against their faces. Their eyes seemed to be connected one with the other, as if managing some kind of nonverbal conversation

"Why are you-

"I'm a man of my word" he simply said and then, proceeded to kiss her again.

Both teens lost track of time as they continued on doing something they seemed to be enjoying quite a lot. Their hands moved here and there, and there were some successful neck sucking attempts. Both students were still on their clothes, but it wasn't difficult to see how they were pulling on them to avoid their lips to roam over the most amount of naked skin as possible.

As Sirius Black bit into her neck, she couldn't help but to allow a small moan to escape her mouth, giving the boy a rush of unnecessary incentive to keep on doing as he was.

It is impossible to guess for how long the two could've kept on going, but hadn't it been for a rushed knock on the door, it'd had probably kept on going until their mouths got sore. Slowly pulling away, they waited look expectantly, hoping for the knocker to disappear, trying to calm their breathings off, but whoever it was behind that door seemed desperate to get in, as it did it once again.

Realizing whereas they liked it or not they had leave soon, both wizards moved further one from the other, not even looking at each other and trying to fix up their clothes so they'd appear normal. As if nothing had happened, they started into the mirrors and tried to do as much as they were able to regarding their swollen lips. Natalia even had to throw all her hair in front of her, trying to hide that very harsh and red looking neck of hers.

At some point they realized whoever had been knocking on the door had grown frustrated and left, for they couldn't hear any other sound coming from outside.

Daring to look at him for the first time since their snogging session finished, she took a few seconds to analyze his face, given that he was distracted fixing up the shirt under his sweater, and would most likely not notice. She tried tracing for any signs of regret or embarrassment, but there were none; instead, he seemed pretty much unbothered; that information certainly didn't displease her.

She was dying to say something, ask anything, but she really couldn't think of the appropriate words to come out her mouth; and she always knew what to say! It seemed like every single thing that occurred to her to ask would be considered as inappropriate by him. So she just waited, keeping her eyes on him, hoping the stare would make him soon be the first on to talk.

Luckily, it worked.

He turned around, and just for a split of a second he ran his eyes over her appearance as well. Whatever it was he thought of it, he kept it well hidden on his face of his.

"Look, as surprising as it will sound, I've been giving you and _this_ some thought over the last week" he informed, trying to look relaxed as he talked and almost managing to do so completely "and I've come to a decision"

"Which is…

"Well, I'm not in love with you or anything, let's get that clear"

"I'm not in love with you either, dorcus!" she said defensibly

"Good to know. Anyway, as I was saying: I'm not in love with you or anything, but as you can see, I enjoy some of the things we do very much, and you do too-

"Well, you don't know that. I've never said I enjoyed-

"Yes you do" he cut her off with a voice that indicated it was the most obvious thing in the world, which considering the fact he had her moaning over some kisses just a couple minutes ago, did enter the definition of 'obvious' "Anyway, given that we both enjoy this and we're not the kind of people who like restraining themselves from things get pleasure on, I've got an idea"

Interest, she gestured for him to keep talking.

"Let's keep on doing this. Really, what's the reason for us not to? We don't even need to talk to each other, and no one has to know. It's as if everything will keep on being the same, but we'll be getting at least something pleasant out of it" he looked at her, waiting for her to say something- oppose to it, anything.

"Alright" was all she said, on a soft voice that he almost missed.

Although her words weren't very strong, she seemed decided, which is why he nodded.

"We can't tell anyone about this, Yaxley. If anyone ever came to find it'd screw us both, you know that, right?"

"I'm not stupid, Black" she refuted, rolling her eyes on the process as she waved her hair away from her eye, careful enough not to push it too far for it to expose her neck "I'd have much more to lose if anyone ever found out I'm doing anything but chatting with you"

"Perfect then" He smiled wryly, trying to hide the fact that he was indeed satisfied from the result of their deal "Also, anybody means anybody, clear? That means not telling Jane Abbot" upon seeing she was about to protest, he quickly added "I'm not telling James either, to keep it fair"

That seemed to ease her eagerness to complain, and she nodded, agreeing with the whole thing.

He was taking off the charms and they were getting ready to leave already. She'd be going off first, after they made sure no one else was outside- given that was one of the boy's bathrooms; he'd follow a few minutes after. Then, as the charms were gone and he was about to get his head out to inspect in case there was anyone outside that could possibly see them, she opened her mouth again.

"So when will we be meeting again?"

Unwillingly, Sirius couldn't help but to get a cocky smile creeping all over his face, as he faced the girl who looked at him not quite understanding the reasoning behind his reaction.

"I haven't even left the room and you already want more" he mocked.

"Oh shut up" she rumbled, looking away as she crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks going bright pink.

He couldn't help but snicker a little, but chose not to start an argument so soon into the day yet, so he dropped the mockery.

"We can talk about it tomorrow at Transfigurations. I figure the boys and I got some planning to do since we haven't seen each other in so long."

She nodded, still refusing to look at him.

"Can you please check if there's anyone there so I can leave?"

Doing as he was told, Sirius was unable to spot any other student outside. He figured it was already that time of the tract where most people where all locked in their compartments, chatting and getting a bit sleepy from all the candy they would get from the trolley.

Quickly, he gestured for her to leave, and with a nod on her part, she did so without another word between the two of them being exchanged. He watched her from the inside of the bathroom until she was far gone in the distance and there was no more trace of her until he decided to get out himself.

Allowing himself a final sigh before opening his compartment door- which was just two compartments away from the place where he and Natalia Yaxley had just been making out, he allowed himself to think that this little plan of theirs could either turn out really well or be a complete disaster; good thing he was a Gryffindor and didn't mind taking some risks in order for a thrill.

Having been over the story she was supposed to tell her brother and Hippolytus as soon as she stepped into their compartment, she made her way in. A sigh full of relieved escaped her mouth when she noticed that none of them were present; instead, the only other person besides herself in the room was Jane Abbott, who although clearly sleepy, had stood up as soon as she had made her way in. The bunny which had been resting over her lap clearly frightened upon the quick movement.

"Nat!" she cried happily as she stood up to hug her friend, who she hadn't seen for two complete weeks and to whom she had plenty to talk about "Where on Merlin's name were you? I was looking for you everywhere!"

"Where was I? Where were you, miss?" she said back, after their hug was finished. She knew that said question would get Jane talking about Potter, which would hopefully forget about her own question.

"Oh, Natalia!" she said on the dreamiest of voices ever, as she took the shortest witch's hand and lead her over to the seats "You won't believe all the things that happened over Christmas!"

And as Jane Abbott began spilling the beans about how she had agreed to be James Potter's fake girlfriend in order to attempt making Lily Evans jealous, Natalia listened to all her story with attention and interest.

However, deep in the back of her mind, the witch worked on suppressing a little smile which threatened to form every now and then. It was really ironic, really, possibly having a bigger secret than that one she was being told about, and that one secret was supposed to be known by two people only, herself and Black. Being a sucker for knowing things others didn't, she couldn't help but feel her current situation was indeed very pleasant.


	16. chapter 16

_**Not as long as I'd have liked but I just finished writing this and given that I uploaded a few days ago, I feel like its enough and you'll get some Sirius-Natalia action on this. Hope you all like it tho!**_

 _ **Thanks soooo much for your review Nana, that was really sweet and I appreciate you took the time to let me know how you feel about the story; it really made my day! Also, thanks v.n martins too for yours. I'm on Holidays now so I'll be able to upload some more luckily, so try checking. Also, been thinking of making a separate story for Jane Abbott, but I'm not really sure about that; would you guys read it if that were the case? Its just that I can't really write much about her on this story because this one focuses on Sirius and Natalia, but I feel like there are many more things that could be written about James and her- either way, let me know what you think!**_

 _ **Also, remember Harry Potter is not mine, but J.K Rowling's!**_

 _Walked into the room you know you made my eyes burn_  
 _It was like James Dean, for sure_  
 _You so fresh to death and sick as ca-cancer_  
 _You were sorta punk rock, I grew up on hip hop_  
 _But you fit me better than my favorite sweater, and I know_

 _Tuesday 4th of January, 1977._

For the first time in all her years in Hogwarts, Jane Abbott was wearing perfume for class, and not just any perfume, but a very nice one that smelled very citric and had been very expensive- it had been Natalia's, but she hadn't liked it and had given it to Jane many months ago after she decided she'd like to stick with her classical and timeless vanilla one, but until her first day of school after winter holidays, the tall witch hadn't had any reasons to use it much. Today, in 1977, having a boyfriend, no matter the circumstances, was enough of a reason for a girl to want to smell nicer.

During Christmas, by the time James arrived, Jane already knew what her definitive answer was; Merlin, she had known it ever since the first moment he asked, as embarrassing as that was. He seemed nervous to ask again, and later on confessed also slightly ashamed for even asking, but she assured him that there was no problem at all; she was her friend and wanted to help him.

Their plan was rather simple, no one but their close friends would know about it, and that included family. They'd pretend to go slow at first, hanging out with each other while outside class, giggling more than usual and perhaps even holding hands- Jane was very excited for that one; they'd do that for about a week or two, and then they'd officially start dating. James told her they'd have to be around Lily, so she could see them and get jealous, and the blonde witch had seen no problem with it, because she was hoping to rather cause a different effect.

Just as Natalia had told her when she had first mentioned the whole thing, she was going to work her hardest to destroy any chances for the redhead and the boy she fancied to be together. Being his fake girlfriend and informed about most of his moves was certainly a bonus which would help her, no doubts. When planning it out, she had felt a little bit guilty but at the end of the day she realized she was doing James a favor: not only was she saving his family's magic from a muggle born infiltrating into their genetics, but also she was protecting his heart, which had been crushed by the other witch many times before, rather cruelly if she might add.

Despite how distracted she found herself with her current situation, she couldn't help but notice her best friend seemed oddly happy; she had smiled at Constance Allingway when the girl had asked something, instead of rolling her eyes- which often tended to be her initial reaction to anything Constance did; when at dinner the previous night, Rosier had greeted her and instead of ignoring him, she had actually replied in almost a polite tone. Jane hadn't paid much attention to Natalia's attitude that previous morning, but after the young witch had brushed off the fact that her brother took the last pancake during breakfast as if it was nothing, she knew there was probably a reason underneath so much glee.

"You seem more joyful than usual, any reasons for that?" Jane asked while holding tight onto her books as they made their way towards their first class of the day, History. She had waited to mention it until they were away from the rest of her house, in case it was something that should be kept as secret.

"No" Natalia smiled, while raising her head to look at her best friend in the eyes. Her voice seemed really dreamy and calm, much like the rest of her face "Just the usual, you know? Yule truly gets me on a good mood"

"Yeah… I suppose that's true" the other witch said, looking down. The idea of Natalia having another reason for her mood still there, but it was indeed a silly thing to think, since she knew the Yaxley girl and how she couldn't keep things quiet for too long, so if there was indeed something she should've told her about, there was no doubt Jane would've heard about it already "So, today James and I are supposed to meet at the library, and then leave together"

"Yes, I know, Jane. You've told me already. Twice"

Ignoring her friend's tone, she continued.

"I'm nervous"

Looking at her friend with a great urge to tell her to back off on that plan of heirs, Natalia sighed, knowing how much this meant to Jane. It was perhaps her only chance to ever be with the boy she fancied since she discovered fancying boys was a thing. So instead of bringing her down, she decided to do her good deed of the day and instead offer her magnificent advice.

"Don't be, you really have no reason for it. You're perhaps the only person going on a first date who doesn't need to be nervous, because the outcome will be the same. He'll still end up being your fake boyfriend no matter what happens today" she said reassuringly, trying to convince her friend she got it easy and thus, make her happier.

"Don't say it so loud!" the other witch said with warm cheeks, eyeballs flying everywhere "someone could hear you"

"What?"

"The fake thing"

"No one would hear me, Jane. There's no one around"

"It doesn't matter! Please be quiet about it"

Seeing that no matter how much advice and assurance she gave to the other girl, she'd still worry about everything like a mad woman- as she usually did with most things, Natalia decided to follow her instincts and stop listening to all of Jane's bubbling. That turned to be a good choice, seeing that the taller girl didn't stop talking of it until their class started, and then, kept on with it when they were out – she could only thank Merlin that Jane was the type of student who tried to avoid talking during class unless provoked to, if not she'd have been in for another hour of pure nonsense involving James Potter. If Natalia hadn't had motives of her own that kept her mind occupied, she would have already lost it and told Jane to shut her mouth.

By the time they had Transfigurations, in third period, Jane was almost jumping from her seat while waiting for James to get into the classroom. Natalia had decided to go and seat by her own desk, instead of staying to talk with her, and Jane guessed that was understandable given how much tiring she must've been during the whole day.

When she heard James Potter's loud laugh coming from the doors, she couldn't help but turn immediately, just to catch a glance of him. That wasn't a good idea, because although he was the first thing she ever turned to look at as soon as she knew he was in the room, she wasn't the first girl he would do that to; naturally, he was staring at Lily Evans, as he kept on half listening to something his little friend Peter was saying.

Turning back not to face him anymore, deciding it would do her no good to be doing such thing, she focused her eyes on her best friend, who sat a few roads ahead of her, in the middle of the room. She thought about what Natalia said, and while it had hurt a little hearing what she knew was true, that she wasn't about to have an actual date after class and that she wasn't either going to enter a real relationship, and that whatever she did or stopped doing wouldn't be of any relevance, for James only had eyes for Lily and she was just the tool that would help him get to her.

Then, she couldn't help but think of what her brother said to her during Christmas; well, he of course hadn't said those things so his little sister would go running after some popular Gryffindor who liked another witch, but she really felt as if his story fit the occasion: Pete Abbott had been talking about the time when he was supposed to really outsell himself during this Quidditch match, for there were some important people in the audience who were supposed to crave his way into a career as a sportsman; that very same day, he was being extremely unlucky up to the point where his team was losing by 120 points; upon realizing there was really not much he could do left, instead of crying his eyes out or anything like it, he began acting silly; the reason why? Well, the game was already lost; he may as well have fun with it.

That was what Jane was going to do. Yes, perhaps James didn't like her the way she wanted him to, perhaps he'd never like her that way, but she did like him, a lot. Where was the harm on at least having fun out of it? If he was doomed to end up with Lily Evans and risk his bloodline and much more on the way, so be it, but she'd at least get to experience what it feels like to be with James Potter- regardless of the veracity of the whole thing.

Just then, the Gryffindor slid next to her, turning his body so he could be half facing her. When she turned to look at him, she was able to see he wore a great smile which sadly, caused her to mirror it in less than a minute, she just couldn't help he had one of the most contagious, brightest smiles on the whole castle.

"Hey, so, I was thinking: should we go on a first day this weekend, or should we do that sooner? I don't want it to seem as if I'm taking things too quick but I also want to get it start it soon and-

He was talking fast and she almost didn't understand him, and that made her smile. Perhaps James wasn't nervous for the same reasons as she was, but it still made a cute sight.

"James, calm down" she said lightly, with a soft smile, looking at him in the eye "I'm sure this weekend will be fine. It's just a date, remember. Fake or not, is a relationship and we're the only ones who should care about going too fast or anything, and I, for one, don't"

He looked at her for a few minutes, as if thinking of something. Then, he let out a laugh filled with relieve. Yes, he should indeed calm down; how was it possible that one of the most laidback boys to ever have lived- that being himself, could get that nervous when it came to females escaped his understanding. Chuckling, he did a rather unexpected thing, he hugged her.

"You're amazing "

No, he wasn't doing that for the plan. They had said there wouldn't be hugging or holding hands until at least a week and a half after their first date. No, that hug was all James- a gesture he felt appropriate for a friend who was doing him such a favour. Had he planned on doing such a thing before actually doing it? No, of course not- James Potter didn't even know what he'd be having for lunch; when he hugged her, he didn't know he was doing so until his arms were wrapping her shoulders.

He pulled away not too long after it had started, and despite it being really an unplanned gesture, he felt it very necessary. He really wanted the witch in front of him to know he appreciated what she was doing for him- he guessed dating a boy you had no feelings for just to help him get with the witch he loved really meant you were indeed a really selfless person, and a great friend.

Had he had the time to notice Jane's red cheeks perhaps he'd have thought something different, but as McGonagall made her way into the classroom just as she always did- In the shape of a cat, he drifted his eyes towards the center of the room, and from then on whatever conversation she had with Jane was just like the ones he had before the whole fake dating thing had even been presented as an idea.

The rest of her classes were dreary, seeming to last forever; it may had been because she had been on Holidays for two weeks, but she knew well enough it was because of her study session with James. She only saw him again during Potions but then he had seem so invested into a conversation with Sirus Black that he hadn't even paid attention to her. What was worse, she could feel she was tiring her friend, for she wasn't even nodding anymore as she told her again and again how excited she was about this- which felt a bit unfair, given that she had heard Natalia tell the same stories on repeat ever since first year.

The reason of her excitement seemed quite simple to her. Yes, she had spent time with James by herself on the past, but back then they had just been friends- yes, perhaps they were still friends now, but now they had to pretend to be people who fancied each other, so people would notice. James would have to act as if he liked her as more than a friend, and as pathetic as it was, she loved the idea of it.

"We'll be starting off lightly today" Slughorn chuckled as he stood behind his cauldron, grabbing something and holding it up so the rest of the room could see clearly what he was holding "These are rose petals- very beautiful and very common ones, you'd find them on your mum's garden all year round if you need them. Now, I know some people prefer to put equal quantities between these and the thorns, but I'd like to disagree, and so would Zygmunt Budge. Can anyone here remember who Zygmunt Budge is?"

Jane and Natalia didn't need to look up to know who had raised their hand. Rolling their eyes, and looking at each other in annoyance, they heard how once again Lily Evans gave the perfect answer.

"Zygmunt Budge was considered the best positioner in all England. He attended Hogwarts many years ago but did not graduate and instead recused himself, where he was characterized by his eccentric ways and wrote the book of potions. We made an essay on him two years ago, Professor"

Unnoticeably, Jane let out a groan as saw the smile that crept on the teacher's face, denoting the answer just given was indeed correct, just as it usually was. She could only imagine James smile should be about the same size, for his dear Lily had just opened her mouth.

Turning to her best friend, she noticed she seemed just as annoyed as she was, which was only natural since she was always complaining about the redhead as well. Just as she was about to make a comment regarding the obnoxiousness the Gryffindor girl exceeded, professor Slughorn talked again.

"Perfect answer, that'd be ten points for Gryffindor" he congratulated "Anyway, as I was saying, I would not recommend going overly eager with the thorns if you want this potion to _really_ , really work, since if you put too much it'll turn out to be a very brief result and somehow unstable"

He kept on talking about their ash winder eggs and the rest of the ingredients needed for the potion to brew successfully, but Jane just couldn't focus at all. It was indeed strange to see that out of the two of them, it was Natalia the one taking more notes and not her. To be completely fair, it wasn't a very useful class to any of the people present there, since they'd only be allowed to make one only to throw it over the sink as soon as they got the grade they needed from Slughorn; apparently, although the ministry found it necessary for students to learn how to make and recognize love potions, they had the decency not to let them keep them to be used on anyone after they were finished- what a bummer.

Apparently, the potion would take three weeks to make. They had already seen all the theory involving it, but now they had to witness professor Slughorn do it himself as they followed later.

To her surprise, Natalia didn't talk much during the class. Of course Jane knew that it was mainly due the fact that she didn't want to listen to her talk about James, but there was also the fact that the Yaxley girl was actually quite decent when it came to the practical work with Potions- perhaps not as skilled as Lily Evans, but definitely above average.

After what felt like hours, it was finally time to meet James. She got to the library at least ten minutes earlier because she simply couldn't bear to wait anymore and also, Natalia seemed eager to kick her out of their room because she said it was impossible to put up with her when she was behaving like that. Looking around ,trying to calm herself in order not to seem as desperate, one minute before five o'clock- the time they were supposed to meet, and growing worried that perhaps he had regretted it, she let out a sigh of relief as she saw him running her way from one of the ends.

"Hey Jane" he said as he slowed down, taking a tighter grip on his book "Sorry if I kept you waiting too long. Was planning this thingy with the guys" he apologized as they began walking towards the library.

"No, you're just in time. I just got here a bit earlier because I was around and wouldn't make sense for me to go back to my common room since I was already here" 

"Oh, what were you doing?" he asked as he pushed some of his messy hair out of his eyesight.

Nervous, because she hadn't expected to be asked about that- since it had been a lie, she looked around, trying to find some inspiration from her background.

"Uhm… just… walking around… Natalia's been a bit moody lately so I decided to leave her to be for the day"

What she said couldn't have been further from the true, since Natalia seemed to be on wonderful spirits ever since returning from their winter break, but James took no time in believing it. It really amazed Jane how good of a liar she was becoming, she guessed six years living with Slytherins could be thanked for that.

"Shall we go in?" he asked with a smile as he placed his free hand on the door, looking at her.

With a small smile, she nodded, the lie and everything else soon escaping her mind.

Had anyone told Natalia Yaxley she would be sneaking out on a school night out of her room in the middle of the night to meet with an obnoxious Gryffindor by the seventh floor while in the coldness of winter, she'd have called you bunkers and laughed at your face while also feeling completely offended by anyone merely suggesting she'd ever willingly want to be in the same presence as a Gryffindor. However, that's exactly what she was planning on doing as she got out of bed on put on her fluffy slippers after everyone else had closed their windows.

She had had a hard time not falling asleep while waiting for everyone else to do so, since her nights at home had grown her accustomed to sleeping at least ten hours, but she was determinate to follow with the plan- reasons why still unknown to her person. She guessed it was just exciting and why to lie, yes, Sirius Black was perhaps one of the most attractive guys she had ever laid eyes on, and he was the first to actually pay attention back to her, despite of how rude he could sometimes, if not all of the times, be.

It was close to eleven, and she had been hidden on her bed pretending to be asleep ever since nine. She had had a quick dinner and gone back to the chambers even before it was time for them to do so; then, she had lied and said she wasn't feeling good, so no one would bother her whatsoever. One thing's for sure, reading magazines and fairy tales can get tiring after an hour.

Before leaving her room, she had been doubtful whereas or not she should perhaps fix a little bit her appearance. She wasn't too bad, her hair not too curly since she hadn't actually been sleeping, but she wondered if perhaps she should put on some other clothes that weren't her pajamas. Then again, it'd be too late for when she came back and she wouldn't be on the mood of changing again, so she decided against it, instead settling for some perfume.

Getting out had been actually quite easy. She knew her brother was meeting up that night that little club of his, which had recently welcomed one of the prefects who just happened to be supposed to be on duty that night- he was of course, ditching it so he could meet with the others, leaving the route deserted. She knew which places to meet, for she had also overheard Dolores Nott complain that morning to Rue Rowle about having to guard most floors from the ninth, so she would just avoid those. Regarding the prefects from the other houses, she guessed she'd just have to be weary; just in case, she carried her wand with her.

It did occur to her that perhaps she should've carried a sweater with her, but that was only when she was already outside her common room, exposed to the coldness of the castle, alas, too late. Shivering, she made her way towards the seventh floor, only having to hide once from a fifth year Hufflepuff boy who though had heard her but wasn't smart enough to look for her.

When she got to the place, she did not find Sirius Black- instead, there was a note left on the floor written over some ripped piece of parchment. Rolling her eyes as she leaned down to pick it up, thinking that it was him letting her know he wouldn't make her, she was mostly surprised when she saw what was written on it.

 _'Walk past this point three times and think 'I need to see Sirius'_ it said.

Frowning, Natalia though about what on earth could be wrong with the Gryffindor in order for him to write such a stupid thing, but then she remembered something. Years back, when her brother Sebastian had been a fourth year himself, he had told the twins the story about a certain room that contained mostly everything you could need and how he had found it; his little siblings had of course been fascinated by the whole thing, being nine and eager to start Hogwarts themselves, so of course they asked a bunch of questions about it, and their brother laughed and told them all of it- all except the location of such room. She remembered Simon being still insistent on finding out about it, but she soon forgot of it and never thought of asking again- up until then.

" _The room of requirement_ " she whispered to herself.

Knowing that she was an easy target while standing on the hallways for everyone who passed by to see, especially given the fact that she was wearing only her nightgown, she decided not to waste any more time and do as it said.

Just as It was supposed to, a door appeared right in front of her, and while fascinated by the sight of it, she couldn't help but feel utterly stupid for not thinking of it sooner. The amount of times she could've made used of that room had she remembered it before was crazy. Rolling her eyes and deciding to deal with her own stupidity later, she made her way in.

The room itself wasn't too remarkable- despite the fact that it had appeared out of nowhere, that was. It was rather simple, having a sofa, a small table and a fire, but Sirius Black was there, and honestly as odd as it sounded, he was the reason why she was there. She was facing his back, for he seemed to be pouring something on a cup, which by the lack of smelled surely wouldn't be anything alcoholic. He had obviously noticed she was there already, for when he turned around his face continued to be the same.

"No one saw you, right?" he asked.

"No, there wasn't many people around" she said with a shrug, moving around in order to inspect the room "Do you come here often?" she asked as she wondered around.

"Not really. I only found it before the winter holidays" he confessed.

"Ah…"

After that small exchange of words, things got awkward- that kind of awkward only teenage interactions could get to. They were both staring at each other, with nothing much to say, and both on their pajamas- If what Sirius Black was wearing could be considered pajamas, since it was only a white t-shirt and actual pajama pants. None of them could think of anything to say, and when they did, they both did it at the same time, shutting up all over again.

In the end, it was Sirius the one to definitively break the ice.

"So… wanna start?"

She nodded, but she wasn't too sure about it. Was that how they were supposed to start? All those other times, it had never been planned, it had just come out of nowhere and they then began exchanging saliva with each other. This time, they both walked over the other slowly: she out of nervousness, and he because he couldn't believe he was actually going through with that, making out with a Slytherin willingly, that was.

Once they were at touching length, they started at each other once again. He lowered his view to focus it instead on her body, and she tried not to pay that too much attention, knowing her ears were already as red as they could possibly be. She would have wanted to cross her arms over, but he was so close that she didn't' really have the space to do so. When he raised his head up once again, she focused on his face, and once again noticed how pretty he really was and without really thinking about it, she placed her hand over his cheek.

That only resulted on him doing the same with one of his hands, only for the other to rest on the back of her neck. Their kiss started off slowly, but five minutes later that was all forgotten. Their hands were no longer on each other faces and neck, they left their lips to do that job- instead, their hands wondered over each other's bodies. His stayed mainly on her back, raising up her nightgown a little every time they would move, and always getting dangerously close to her bottom but never really getting quite there. Hers also took quite a liking of his back, which despite not being as wide as the one's other boys at Hogwarts boasting of having it was twice hers, and very muscular as well.

Before they knew it, their bodies were over the sofa. Not fully lying down, but instead sitting, they kept on kissing and doing just as before, but more comfortably.

They kept on doing that for about forty minutes before she realized she was feeling quite thirsty. She tried pushing his chest away softly, but he didn't even caught up on that. So without seeing another option left, she chose to bite his lip. Contrary of what she was expecting, a big grin grew through his face the minute she did that, and although very confused about it, she wasn't complaining about the new found burst of eagerness that came after.

"That felt good, Yaxley. Where'd you even learn that?" he said on one of those rare breathing pauses they made. His face still very close to her own, and she could feel his warm breath.

Rolling her eyes playfully and trying to hide the fact that she was actually pleased and surprised about the fact he had liked that, she stood up and pushed him aside a little to walk towards the little table and pour herself some water.

"I don't have to learn anything. I'm just good like that" she said after she took a sip and shrugged her shoulders, treating it as if it were nothing.

He tried, he really tried to react to that comment the same way he would during a normal day, but couldn't help but to let out a failed suppressed smile. He really though she was indeed a natural when it came to snogging- he had been the first boy with whom she had done it and he couldn't complain about anything about that or the other times. He was of course, not stupid enough to admit that.

"Pass me that" he said instead, stretching his hand towards her and demanding for the small goblet.

With a small roll of eyes and ignoring his lack of 'please' she did as he asked him, and handed it over to him, who finished it all off on record time. She observed him as he did so, and noticed how his face was slightly red too; clearly not from embarrassment but from what they had been doing minutes prior. Not really knowing why, she began talking.

"So what is it that you and your friends are up to now?" she asked while crossing her arms and leaning a little over the table.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a suspicion, raising a perfectly black brow.

"Jane said Potter mentioned something about that today, and If I recall correctly, so did you yesterday"

He looked at her as if deciding whereas he should tell her or not, making the girl roll her eyes. She was honestly only asking out of pure curiosity, she found it really stupid he was doubting it like that; luckily, he was able to see that, so he just sighted and went with it.

"Is just this little prank we came up with before winter break. We'll be throwing it around the next week, and while I can't go into details about it with a snake" he ignored the expression she sent when he called her that "given that you were quite a decent snog today, I'll let you know to stay away from your table next Friday morning"

"Why?" she frowned

"Just appreciate I'm such a gentleman and do as you're told"

"Ha. _A gentleman_. Really good one, Black."

"Are you mocking me? I'm a perfect gentleman" he said standing up, a small grin staring to grow on his face as he talked and walked towards her "Let me show you"

She let out a loud non voluntary chuckle and soon again, they were back at it for at least another twenty minutes. This time, they settled for snogging over the table.

Both of them decided it was time to go back around the same time, knowing it was dangerously close past one o'clock and while there may not be any prefects around anymore, ghost were around and they tended to tell on students who walked around past their bedtime and interrupted their alone time.

When they got out, she couldn't help but shiver the minute she realized that the warmth from the room was long gone. Sirius caught up on that, and groaning and rolling his eyes, he began taking off the scarlet Gryffindor sweater he had taken with him from his room before leaving, knowing it would be cold.

"Who on their right mind gets out of their room in January in just that dress of yours?" he grumbled as he handed it to her

Although surprised by the action, she didn't mention it. Yes, perhaps she should've taken a sweater, but what he was doing was the right thing to do: she was the girl, for Merlin's sake. While getting the sweater on her, she couldn't help but to sniff a little and feel that particular and oddly pleasant smell she had learned during the last few weeks, belonged to Sirius Black only. Looking at him now with only his t-shirt, despite thinking he did what he had to do, she couldn't help but feel a little bad; hence why she said what she said next.

"Thank you" she said on a quiet voice.

"It's nothing" he said on a dismissible as they began walking away.

"I still have your other clothes, by the way" she mentioned, looking over to his face "Your sweater from Hagrid's and something you left over at my house"

"And when are you planning on giving those back, Yaxley?" he raised an eyebrow, lowering his head slowly so he could meet her eyes.

"When you start being nicer to me" she smiled on an overly sweetly way, which was the characteristical smile she forced whenever she wanted to piss someone off "For starters, stop calling me Yaxley. I think ' _my lady'_ will do just fine"

He rolled his eyes and couldn't help but to laugh, soon shutting his mouth up before he could wake anyone up. He had to remember that they were still at Hogwarts and it was far out their curfew time.

" _My lady_?"

"Yes, that's the least I deserve. You can add fair, if you'd like; but I wouldn't expect you to"

"There's no way I'm calling you that"

"Well, too bad then. You're not getting your clothes back" she simply said, brushing it off.

"Do you realize I could just yank off the sweater I gave you just now if I wanted to, right?"

"Don't be a brute, Sirius!"

And while he wanted to laugh, because he was clearly joking, he couldn't help but to catch up on the fact she had just used his first name for the first time to his face ever since they were adults. He just kept on looking at her on quite a strange way, and she realized that.

"Why are you looking at me that way?"

He didn't give her an answer.

They met again Wednesday and Thursday night, leaving Friday off for themselves and then hung out again during the weekend and the rest of the following week, with no many changes regarding their first encounter. They still called each other by their last names, but she did tell him off that one time by his first when he accidentally spilled pumpkin juice all over her nightgown- despite it being quickly cleaned over by a quick swift of his wand; In return, he told her 'Now is time for you to say thank you, _Natalia'_ Of course she didn't, but it amused him to pronounce her name in such a way that it annoyed her. She kept on carrying his sweater- much to his dismay; he had tried snapping it back but she hexed him three times on a row as soon as he'd laid a hand on it, arguing it was too cold and that it'd be barbarous to let her go back to her common room without a sweater- why did it have to be his was beyond his understanding, as he was sure she owned many more than the average witch would - when he asked, she said she didn't want those to get dirty.

Although snogging was what they mostly focused on doing, they'd talk a little too. On Monday, they absolutely bashed Mr. Binns and his boring classes, after she mentioned how she had basically copied off her brother's assignment, which had been due to deliver previous Friday- not that he was very proud of it, but they ended up laughing their guts off by the end of the night. Thursday, they agreed it'd be a wise thing to start with the Transfigurations tutoring they had arranged for as soon as possible, since exams were soon approaching. On Thursday they each stayed in their common rooms, since Sirius had to finish up some touches regarding the prank they'd be pulling on those Slytherins early Friday.

Their interaction with each other when in presence of other people had in essence not changed much. They still treated each other quite rudely and mocked one another over basically the same things- whenever anyone from school saw them, Sirius and Natalia knew they wouldn't have guessed anything strange was going on among the two of them. However, if people decided to pay attention, they'd have noticed something not even the two teenagers themselves had yet: how they would randomly stare at the other for a few minutes when sitting together for Transfigurations or how they would glance at each other from time to time at Potions or History of Magic- the only other two classes they shared with each other; she had caught him once as he turned around towards her desk, but he had been quick to drift his eyes back to the center of the room.

And, if people had really, really, paid any attention, they'd have called on the fact that Sirius Black and Natalia Yaxley accidentally touched every time they had the chance. When sitting together, their knees would be touching; whenever they were leaving a room, they would somehow end up getting out the door at the same time, resulting on their shoulders to brush with one another; if she was doing anything wrong when at Transfigurations, instead of yanking her wand off, he'd instead grab her hand to stop her to then yank it off;; whenever Natalia's large and pompous quill's tip would touch Sirius' face by accident, which had been a source of many arguments before was now taken as naturally as the fact that the sky is blue and the trolls are stupid.

All those things seemed natural to him, to a certain degree. Like, they were snogging each other almost every night; of course physical contact wouldn't be such a big deal by that point.

Friday morning he had had to wake up earlier than the sun itself. Had James's plan not been as promising as it appeared to be, he wouldn't have made the effort. Although it must be known, the mere thought of seeing dozens of Slytherins whining their arses off over some little joke pulled by other students would've made any Gryffindor get out their beds at any time without complaining.

Their potion was ready, they had been working on it for about a week, and without Remus help, it was safe to say they wouldn't have made it- at least not without having it exploding on their faces a couple times, because despite how talented Sirius Black and James Potter were in pretty much everything, Quidditch had seemed more interesting the day professor Slughorn told them that to successfully brew a colour changing potion the cauldron should never be put above 100 degrees- unless you were looking for it to leave funny spots and an increasing burn all over your face. Sure, perhaps they could've gone for Colovaria, after all charms were far less technical and didn't demand as much time as potions did, but for this certain occasion they needed their work to last and also, they wanted to target as many snakes as possible on the least amount of time without being spotted.

After setting the potion into the vials, it was all ready, and all they had to do was to wait for Peter to get over the Slytherins' table and spray some of the liquid into every fourth year and above's pumpkin juice. Peter's animal form being the smallest out of the whole lot seemed ideal for certain tasks like that one, which were better perform without any sort of witnesses. However, as smalls as rats could be and as thick as some of the snakes were, the marauders knew they'd have to minimize Peter's rodent frame as much as possible- which honestly, compared to a one week brewing potion was just like child's play.

He really hoped Natalia Yaxley would be there for breakfast. Not that throwing those sort of pranks on her were one of his priorities anymore- truth was that he didn't consider her to be the worst snake on the castle anymore (he wouldn't be snogging her otherwise); either way, he felt as if maybe if she didn't get affected by it, all because he told her to stay away from it, she'd get the wrong idea, as if he cared for her or something like that. Sirius Black wasn't one for serious relationships- as ironic as that sounded, considering his first name- and even if he was, sure thing he wouldn't be intending to have anything serious with someone like her, despite how relatively less heartless she was compared to other Slytherins she was still a snake.

"Oi, Prongs!" Remus called, his eyes fixed on the green table, as were everyone else's from the group; however, he seemed to be staring at one particular person whereas his friends were just looking for Peter's animagus, little and furry frame "Isn't that Jane?" he turned his eyes towards his friend.

"Yeah, why?" James shrugged, wrinkling his nose.

"Well, aren't you two going on a date tomorrow?"

"Yes, so?"

Even Sirius could tell what seemed obvious, and he pointed that out by drifting his eyes from the snakes' table towards his best friend's head, who remained completely oblivious of what Remus was implying.

"So?" the sandy haired boy asked, the world filled with sarcasm, but he didn't have to explain anything, for Sirius did the honors.

"So don't you think she'll be pretty mad once she looks in the mirror and realizes her fake boyfriend is completely at fault and decided not to tell her anything?"

" _Crap_ "

That was all he said and both his friends were able to see how his hazel eyes widened. He seemed unsure about what to do, but there really weren't many options. If their potion had been properly brewed- and they had made sure of that, the Slytherins would be experiencing the effects of it in no more than five minutes for those who already drank the juice. If James attempted anything to warn the blonde at that given moment, they'd not only be busted by the dozens of students who'd want to surely hex their arses off, but also the teachers. They hadn't even taken their wands with them, since they were so sure about the ineffability of their plan; also helping them in case any of their professors landed on the obvious answer and decided to blame them; they wouldn't be able to do much without a wand or a caldron that could be linked to the four students.

All there was left to do for James was to painfully watch as Jane Abbott dragged the goblet closer to her thin lips as she nodded to whatever it was one of the other girls in her house was saying to her. Hadn't it been filled with hundreds of chatty teenagers, one would've been able to hear James' swallowing without much problem.

Drawing away his eyes from his friend's frame, Sirius looked back to the table and didn't know quite well what to feel when he didn't see Natalia there. Sure, it was bad because then she'd probably be all clingy and they'd probably have to end a pretty enjoyable thing just because she'd get it into her head that he had feelings for her or something of the sort, but at the same time, he knew how damn dramatic Natalia Yaxley was and how she'd have made his life as miserable as possible if anything became to happen to that golden head of hers. Despite the fact he had doubted himself for even telling her- damn those teenage hormones, he then felt a little grateful about his past self, as he witnessed James' worried face, one thing he wouldn't have to worry about.

As expected, no more than two minutes later, some changes were already noticeable on the heads of those on the end of the table- those who had been served first- but that was only if you were paying attention to their hair, as the marauders were. Panic wasn't too far ahead but hadn't had its strike yet, for the ones being affected had yet still to notice.

It took them a minute to start off mumbling incoherent things as they tried to understand what on Merlin's name was happening to the people's surrounding them. When they took notice their own heads too were under attack, that's when the mumbling turned into yelling. Two or three girls even screamed- friends of Yaxley, Sirius guessed.

As the panic rose over the Slytherins table, so did laughter around everywhere else. When the marauders looked up to were some of the teachers sat, they could see some of them were trying to suppress smirks. Even James had to push the thought of Jane out of his head for a minute, in order to enjoy it: they had created a masterpiece.

Bright red and gold heads moved around in anger and confusion, trying to figure out where it came from. After a few seconds the brightest ones of the lot figured it had to be potion and it surely was on their goblets. At some point professor Slughorn approached the table, being the head of Slytherin; he only confirmed what they all already knew.

As if Sirius wasn't having enough fun already, he had to witness his younger brother walking in anger towards the big doors. His slightly shorter curls were now a perfect representation of Gryffindor, and he glared at Sirius just one second before stepping out of the great hall; that simply sent the older Black ballistic with laughter.

Even if they got caught and had to serve a million years on detention, it was worth every second.

Natalia hadn't been sure whereas or not follow Sirius' advice that Friday. Yes, she was making out with him and he was certainly pretty and from the most respected of families, but she knew better than to trust a Gryffindor and miss her precious breakfast because of it. However, given they hadn't met the previous night and she had been able to have a decent amount of sleep, she thought it'd be an optimal morning to go and visit Harvey over at Hagrid's- she'd just need to make sure to return just in time for breakfast.

It took her a longer time than she'd have wanted to get out of bed, but that was understandable since she wasn't a big fan of getting out of you bed before 8 am unless forced to do so. Regardless of that, soon she was making her way through the castle, having left Jane a note saying she'd meet her for breakfast later.

She was passing the third floor's stairs as she heard someone calling her name from behind- no, not her last name, but her name. She hadn't recognized the voice straightaway, but as she turned, she realized who that person was and couldn't help but think how she hadn't thought of him at all during the past few days.

"Hi" the boy said with a gentle smile, walking closer to her

Looking at him, she wasn't sure of what to answer at all. She had gone from having a potential crush on the guy to being completely disappointed by him on a quite short period of time. She had put very high expectations on the wizard, and the way in which he had behaved in front of her suggested he would've been able to meet those- if not, then perhaps she wouldn't have idealized him so much. From the information she had learnt from Sirius back at her place, he fancied someone else, and not only that, but a presumed muggle- the thought made her want to barf. However, starring into his eyes made that disgusted feeling lessen up.

Despite what her common sense told her, which was to turn around and not dedicating him another word nor glance, she remembered how he had been sweet back when no one else had; and really, how he was only one of the other few people in the castle who liked her enough to call her by her first name.

"Hi, Remus"

"What're you doing up so early? It's only 7:30"

"Uhm… just going out for a bit of fresh air" she shrugged, still unsure of how to feel about talking to him.

"That's good. You had a good Christmas, right? You said it was your favourite Holiday"

Only that was needed for her to be sure again. He had remembered! Not many people recalled the things she said; especially not people who weren't related to her in some way- yet, Remus Lupin had.

"Yes…:" she couldn't help but to let a tiny smile draw on her lips "Did you?"

"I had a good time. My father seemed very happy to have me home"

"That's good!" she chipped in "So, is your father in any way related to Servio Lupin?" she tried asking casually, switching to a new strategy.

He seemed a little confused, to say the least. Regardless, he answered.

"Uhm, yeah. That's his uncle, why?"

"Oh, nothing" she smiled.

Of course it wasn't _nothing_. Back during the beginning of the Holidays, when she had still been thinking about him occasionally, and definitely before she had spent the whole night dancing with Sirius Black, she had dared asking her father about the boy's last name. She was almost completely sure he was a pureblood, a half-blood in the worst case, because she trusted herself and knew that biologically, there was no way she could even be drawn towards someone as vile as muggleborns; however, she had wanted to make sure, just in case, and so she asked.

Bruno Yaxley thought about it for a minute and then smiled and nodded, recalling having met a Servio Lupin once, and could remember him behaving like a fine enough wizard. The Lupins weren't part of the secreted 28, that was for sure, but his father recalled this certain gentleman mentioning being pureblooded. Upon hearing that, she had immediately cherished the newfound knowledge, but after what Sirius Black told her, she found it hard to believe this Servio could be closely related to anyone who would pursue after a muggle- so chances were the two weren't actually related but just shared last name.

But then, hearing the boy confirming he was indeed related to Servio, clearly indicated he was a pureblood and therefor, did not have any sort of feelings towards something as degrading as a muggle. Sirius Black must've been joking, just as he usually did. It was indeed a relief, because in the short amount of time they had actually known each other, she had come to like him very much.

However, despite feeling at ease with maintaining a friendship with him now she had confirmed he came from a noble family, those hopes she held before, about the two of them becoming an item, were gone. Why? She really hoped it wasn't because of Sirius Black and their newest shared hobby of making out, but she had a feeling perhaps that was it- no, she didn't think Sirius Black could be anything but what he was: a person who she'd snog until the right wizard came along, but it did certainly put her off liking one of his best friends.

Remus seemed about to add something, but thinking about Sirius made her remember the whole reason why she was out of bed so early- that being Harvey, so she began talking quite quickly: "I'll have to get going, Remus, deary!" she rushed saying, turning around and looking at him through her shoulder, an animated smile over her face now "But we shall talk soon, don't you think?"

The boy was indeed surprised by how quickly she had started moving, and just as he was about to say his proper goodbyes and agree to talking later, he remembered something: Natalia Yaxley was a Slytherin.

"Talia!" he yelled, still on his place whereas she was already a many steps away.

Upon hearing her nickname, one the guy in question had given her weeks ago and which she happened to like just fine, she turned, confused but still showing a small smile.

"Yes?"

"Don't go get breakfast this morning, alright? I-I can't really explain. Just miss it!"

Had she not been notified of it beforehand-despite her disbelief towards the whole thing; she'd have asked why, perhaps, even demanded an answer. However, all she could do after being absolutely surprised by his words was nodding and giving him a forced smile, before walking away.

Rushing her way towards Hagrid's cottage, she just couldn't stop her surprise from showing on her face- if anyone had seen her; they'd have surely asked what it was that kept her in such a state. Sirius Black had told her the truth! Something was indeed going to happen at the great hall that morning, and he had warned her. How was she supposed to feel regarding that, she had no idea.

She simply couldn't believe this was happening to her: she had been good; she had lectured herself over what was left of her winter break not to get too hanged on the idea of anything real regarding Sirius Black; even when they made their whole arrangement, she kept herself on the line, knowing the boy in question had not a single husband-like bone on his whole body; she knew all they were doing was just fooling around, a mere thing to distract herself from all the things troubling her. Now, with this new information, she wondered if perhaps it could be she had gotten it all wrong. Perhaps he cared for her, but then again, perhaps not; it could be that he had simply left it out by mistake or because as he said- she had been a good snog for the day.

She forced herself to stop thinking about it once she reached her final destination and forced a small smile to Hagrid, who confessed been glad to see her again.

Not thinking about it wasn't as difficult once she saw Harvey, who seemed to be almost fully recovered- but still, even in the presence of one of the most adorable creatures she had ever seen or cared about, a tiny spot in her mind couldn't help thinking about Sirius Black.

She considered telling her brother and Jane, even Hippolytus- who always tried helping her some way or another, but then decided against it and kept on playing and looking after Harvey as the groundskeepers went off to do his job. She wasn't telling Jane because it seemed pretty obvious to her that Potter must've already told her, after all, they'd be going on a date just the next day and would be becoming a fake couple someday around the following week. Regarding Simon and the other Slytherin boy, well, there wasn't much she could do without throwing herself under the knight bus, revealing where she had gotten such information. All she could hope for was that the joke wasn't too harsh and that maybe, she could laugh at it too- after all, she loved her brother, but mocking him was never out of question.

Checking on the clock hanging over Hagrid's wall, she sighed, placing Harvey down on his little bed and then proceeding to wave some of the remaining white hair that had stuck to her sweater. Yes, she had officially missed breakfast and if she left just then and went over to her chambers, she'd get just in time for class.

What she wasn't expecting when she entered the common room was about half her year along with below and above, already there. Usually, they'd all go straight to class after breakfast- which shouldn't be finished just yet- but still, there they all were. What surprised her the most, however, was not their presence, but the fact that their hairs were the most roaring red and golden.

Just as she was trying her eyes to drift apart from a crying fourth year who she recognized to be one of the few half-bloods that lived on their side of the castle, she turned and saw her brother surging from the door that connected with the rooms, looking absolutely outraged as he complained to equally annoyed Severus Snape and Evan Rosier. Had she not found the sight of her brother's head so amusing and laugh worth it, she'd have questioned what he was doing with Snape out of all people, who she knew her brother despised just as much as she did.

Although he hadn't seen her yet, that fierce conversation taking all his interest, he was able to notice her almost immediately, from her loud laughter that appeared to be somehow depriving her from breathing air.

"Oh, _Merlin_. This is simply too good" she said in between chuckles, unable to stop herself from doing so. She was in fact so amused; tears were coming off her eyes as she covered her mouth, trying to suppress it.

Her reaction wasn't really welcomed by any of the three boys.

"Shut up, Natalia" her brother said, crossing his arms over his chest. Next to him, there stood the other two; all in front of the girl "I don't think is a matter of laughing"

"Oh- I think it is!" she busted into an even louder fit "Oh, Si!" she cried as she touched a bit of his flaming red hair.

The boy wasn't at all impressed, and it didn't take long for them all to catch up on the fact that her hair remained that lovely golden hue- not a single strand altered by whatever had attacked theirs. However, although her twin decided not to say anything, since he was planning on interrogating her absence while in private, since he was well aware that his sister missing breakfast wasn't the norm, Severus Snape didn't have the same delicacy.

"How come your hair is blonde?"

Had he been another person, she'd have gladly joked about it and smiled, saying something as silly as ' _genetics'_ ; but it was Severus Snape, a person that had always been a creep, to put it simple, and not in the same way as Rosier. He held a strange friendship with a mudblood, isolated himself pretty much from everyone else from their house and yet claimed to hold the same values as the rest of them- had he not been so good at potions and most of his subjects, the boy would've been considered a pariah.

So, since it was him the one asking the question, and not someone else, it didn't take her long to wash the smile off her face and instead flash him an over the shoulder look, only to dismissively reply: "I'm not sure how on earth you all got your hair to look like that, but it has clearly not struck me"

"Where were you before breakfast?" his voice came out filled with suspicion, not bothering on keeping the fact that he was interrogating like some common criminal a secret.

Natalia rolled her eyes at how clueless to social interaction with girls such as herself the boy could be. She guessed he couldn't really be blamed, his only female company being a mudblood must've surely got him used to some different kind of treatment. Still, she didn't like him.

"That's none of your business, _Snape_ " she spit out his last name with disgust.

To be completely honest, had he been a nice young man, she wouldn't have brought up his muggle ancestry like that, since it'd be far too shameful for the other person, she thought. But there was no doubt the greasy haired boy got all his bad manners from his non magical side- surprise-surprise.

He seemed eager to reply, but her brother had also caught up on that. Not wanting his sister to get into an argument with anyone at the moment- since that would only add another problem to his own list, he interfered.

"She wasn't at breakfast, Snape" he said, looking at the boy without really knowing what to make of him "We will chat later, Natalia." was the last thing he said before he walked off with the other two, still muttering things she couldn't quite understand.

Rosier placed his eyes on her a little bit too long before he parted; making whatever was left of her laughter to die straight away. Still, she wasn't worried about her brother, since she had the perfect excuse. Shall he feel distrustful then he could go over to Hagrid and he could clarify whatever doubts he may have about his sister.

Sighing, Natalia made her way towards her chambers. Not that she had much time until class was supposed to start, but she wanted to eat something, and given that the great hall wasn't quite the place where to do so at that given moment, she guessed she could break into the little stash she kept hidden under her mattress. Perhaps chocolate wasn't the healthiest thing to have for breakfast, but she'd take that over red hair any time.

Finding Jane with a mirror on her hand and wand in the other, looking like a frenetic witch while she tried spell after spell wasn't something she was expecting to find. Nor was the colour in her head. All that time, she thought her best friend was either with Potter or perhaps waiting early for class, never once did it occur to her that perhaps her idiotic soon to be fake boyfriend (if that ever happened now) would chose not to tell her.

"Janie?" she asked as she walked towards the other witch's bed, where she sat.

Immediately, not only Jane's attention was on the newly arrived, but also everyone else's in the dorms. None of them looked particularly happy and it seemed as if the sight of Natalia's unaltered head was just adding up to their current mood.

"Why's your hair looking like that, Yaxley?" Dolores Nott asked. Never being one for formalities nor politeness that one, her tone was overloaded with distrust and also, rudeness.

The blonde, however, pushed it aside.

"I was busy during breakfast, _Dolores_ " she said her name on a syrup sweet tone with a matching smile "If what you're implying, however, is that whatever happened to the lot of you is my doing, I'm offended. Do you seriously think I'd dare choosing such dreadful colours?" she said while placing a hand over her chest, a little dramatic touch.

Dolores Nott along with the other two lost interest in her soon after those words, finding some reasoning within them. Not only it seemed like a pretty unlikely prank for the girl- since they all found Natalia Yaxley to be as humorless as a banshee, but it seemed obvious it also required lots of both intellectual and magical effort- which they all thought the blonde witch lacked of. Besides, as she had stated, those terrible coloring choice could come from no one else but a Gryffindor, and since they seemed to share year with the most reckless of the lot, they found it to be pretty obvious who the real vandals had been.

Jane made side so Natalia could sit next to her, her eyes not leaving the mirror not even once.

"I look hideous" she said, her eyes sadly staring, as one of her fingers caressed her hair.

"Well, I'm sure it can be fixed"

"Yes. In 24 hours." She said with anger.

"Why is it taking that long?"

"Professor Slughorn has do brew a complete new antidote to undo it. Whoever did it must've been good at potions. You know how's good at potions and likes red and gold? Evans"

To this, Natalia found it really hard not to roll her eyes to. It was clear her friend knew who it had actually been but was on a denial stage.

"Come on, Jane. I like Evans just as much as you do, but you know it wasn't her" 

"Then, who?"

"I think you know who"

She didn't get any answers from that, instead, all she got was a very gloomy face and a groan. After that little show, Jane stood up, passing her fingers through her short hair in order to get rid of all the murderous thoughts that were attacking her mind- and self-esteem. Honestly, was there anything as pathetic as being humiliated by the boy you liked and were supposed to start dating in about a week?

"Can we go to class now?"

And although Natalia wasn't really feeling like getting there early, one look at Jane made her change her mind. The tall witch seriously didn't seem to be having a good day. Merlin, had Sirius not told her about it, she'd have been majorly mad- and Sirius wasn't even her boyfriend, nor someone she actually had feelings for.

With a nod, after getting some chocolates from her hidden vault, both witches began making their way towards the first class of the day, which luckily for James Potter, wasn't Transfigurations.

Whatever kind of humiliation they had been put through at the great hall hadn't stopped, and it was clear by the way people would sneer whenever someone passed a Slytherin on the corridors. Even younger students were laughing at them and Natalia found it impossible for her to resist jinxing one or two of them. It wasn't the colours by themselves what people thought was the best entertainment in the whole world, but rather the fact that those colours represented the lions, which were natural enemies with the people wearing them.

Natalia Yaxley and Hippolytus Lestrenge, although safe from the mocking of other people, suffered having to endure the excelling bad mood that most people from their house were wearing. It turned out; they were the only two Slytherins from year fourth and above not to have suffered anything- Hippolytus explanation being that he hadn't had time to drink anything while at breakfast. It wasn't that the others thought they had had anything to do with the whole thing, but the fact their heads looked absolutely normal was enough reason for the other snakes to take out their anger on them.

After Christmas break, Fridays meant they didn't have Transfigurations, so the only time Natalia and Jane had been able to see any of the marauders had been for History of Magic, and given that the boys had made it on point to get there late and leave impressively early- fearing being ambushed by some Slytherins, made it impossible for any of them to say anything at all. In fact, Natalia had even tried some eye contact with Black, but he made it pretty obvious he was avoiding her. Whenever they'd pass each other on the hallways, the marauders always seemed to have at least five other people around- either from their own house or the remaining two, for protection.

Simon Yaxley, always the Quidditch captain, seemed particularly invested on creating a strategy that'd allow him and some of the other Slytherins to take revenge; hence why he had totally ditched his sister over lunch to go and plot against the Gryffindors with people as unimpressive as Severus Snape- which explained why he had been talking to such an individual earlier that day.

The blonde witch was left to eat her smashed potatoes with an extremely quiet Jane Abbott and a justifiably annoyed Hippolytus Lestrange who had been just snarked by his own best friend, deciding then to abandon his company for the day.

"Don't mind him, Hippolytus. Every time he's being an utter arse to me, he comes around about a day later or so. Just ignore him for the rest of the day and you should be fine"

"So am I supposed to hang with you two then?" He arched a brow as he placed a spoon full of soup on his mouth, obviously not completely thrilled by the idea.

"Yes, what's so wrong about that?"

"Well, let's see, shall we?-

He then began listing a reasonable sized list about why it'd feel like a burden hanging out with the two girlfriends and without his own friend, and among those there were the fact that the two witches barely did anything else but gossiping and reading magazines- which would lead to more gossiping. However, Natalia hadn't heard a word of it, for something else had caught her attention.

Sirius Black, with his head thrown back and laughing along some of his other friends- the sound of his laughter could be heard up to her table. He seemed to be amused by something his friend Potter said, but his eyes weren't really there, but on Natalia.

As soon as he realized she had caught up he looked to the other side, resting his grey eyes over the Longbottom boy, just as if nothing had happened. The girl on the other hand, was left there feeling utterly confused and slightly blushed. She would've kept on looking at him for who knows how much longer, had her brother not called up her name.

"Sorry?"

"I said don't worry. We'll get them"

"Oh… good"

It didn't take a genius to see he had obviously mistaken both her prolonged stare and her coloured cheeks for hatred, when in fact that couldn't be furthers away from the real reason.

However, that small conversation with her brother- if it could be called a conversation, gave her what was possibly the most idiotic idea of the century- besides the arrangement she had done with Black two weeks ago. It occurred to her, that perhaps she should pay back to Black and Lupin the little favour both did to her and warn them about whatever her brother and other housemates had coming for them.

Had she any idea whatever that plan they were talking about was? Absolutely not. It seemed pretty clear her brother would not tell her, since he wouldn't have wanted her anywhere near the scum those Gryffindors were, and also, he wouldn't have wanted her getting in trouble- since that'd lead to him, if it reached their parents. Whoever, she could trust that her talking skills on top of the underestimation most of her peers paid her, could give her a good insight into everything.

Had it been about something more important than hair dying, she wouldn't had said anything. She wouldn't even dream of betraying her house. But given that it was something rather petty and that she had been spared looking like a jester- unlike everyone else from her house, she didn't think it'd be much of a big deal if she maybe slipped out a bit of information about it. Besides, Sirius Black telling her was odd, perhaps if she paid back with a similar favour, the odd sensation would go away.

So during the rest of the day, whenever she wasn't trying to get Jane to tell her how she was feeling- without any luck, that was, she was chatting up with numerous people from her house that could update her with anything regarding the revenge deal. Her conversational skills were so advanced that any question she asked came out so casual that none of them could've picked up on the fact that she was planning anything else- the thought made her heart feel as warm as melted butter.

Evan Rosier had told her mostly everything, that was until Severus Snape approached them and made it pretty clear he disapproved of him telling the girl anything about their plan. Natalia was sure that if she had wanted to argue, she'd have won- firs off, because she was superior to Snape in almost every single way, and second, because Rosier still behaved like a lost puppy trying to gain forgiveness around her. However, seeing that they were both rather dreadful company, she thought she could spare herself the suffering and take a risk of asking someone else whatever little detail she was missing: the most important one being _when_ the ambush was taking place.

It was late at night and she was enjoying time by herself in the common room, as Jane had left earlier to go to bed, possibly to cry. Natalia had offered going over so they could talk, but Jane assured her she needed time on her own.

"Little Black!" she yelled late that night as she saw him pass by, throwing her magazine on the side as she stood up quickly, not wanting the boy to get away- as he had surely been planning to- judging by the way his eyes had widened. He was indeed a very quiet boy who was reluctant to company, she thought "Just back from training?" she asked, pointing towards the broom he carried under his arm.

"No, I train with your brother, on Mondays" she of course, knew that.

"Oh, right. Where were you then?"

"Flying"

"All by yourself?"

"Yes"

It was easy to see he was uncomfortable, his tone of voice and demeanor giving it away almost instantly. That was a fact that made her smile, for if she knew something about boys like Regulus Black, the shy type, was that they wanted to get out of conversations quickly, hence why it'd be easier to get any kind of information from him.

To be quite honest, she wasn't totally wrong, because Regulus Black disliked the witch standing in front of her quite impressively, and wanted nothing to do with her. Being linked to someone as obnoxious as her seemed to be one of the worse fates Regulus could think of, so of course he'd do whatever it took to get her to leave him be so he could return to his dormitories as soon as possible.

"So how are your classes so far? I remember my fifth year, they were all so difficult."

He looked utterly bored by the whole conversation, and to the question he simply shredded.

"They're fine"

"I'm glad!" she smiled even more "So, I've meant to ask you. What time is it tomorrow? The ambush, I mean. Evan was just telling me about it but then I forgot about the time, silly me" she laughed.

"Why're you asking me?"

If she was surprised by that little act of rudeness, she didn't let it show. Instead, her smile grew a few inches more, and she leaned a bit closer, as if she was telling a secret.

"Oh, that's simple! My brother's being a pain, all because of that little colouring matter. And then I saw you passing, and you're usually such a dear that I was sure you'd be the one to ask"

Perhaps, had he not been as tired as he was; had he not been poisoned by his own brother just that morning; had he not missed dinner to go practice some flying on his own, he would've managed to come up with an excuse not to tell the girl anything. But then again, that was Natalia Yaxley- chances were, all she'd do with that information was to use it as a source of entertainment the next day, so she and her girlfriend could go and giggle without being of any help at all. Besides, he had a slight headache and he knew that If he kept on going with that conversation, he was dangerously close to being rude, and knowing the girl in front of him, there was no doubt she'd mention it to her parents, and they would mention it to his own; bringing yet another problem to young Regulus' life. That's why he told her.

"You're such a darling, Regulus. Your blood's worth bottling"

She left his side with a little slap on his back and a great smile, leaving the young boy to sigh and thank Merlin he didn't have to spend more time with such a creature for more time than he did on a regular basis.

It really surprised her how fast her mind could work every once in a while, as she stood behind the corner over the Gryffindor tower. She was staring intensely to the little darling that was helping her, that being her bunny, Peaches. Given that no one else in the castle but her own friends and Black knew about the rabbit's existence, she thought it would be of ideal use for the task.

Peaches truly looked adorable while waiting there for someone to find her, with that fluffy fur of hers and that big pink ribbon resting around her neck. She had a little piece of parchment attached between her collar and her neck, and that one had been charmed so no one else but Sirius Black would be able to read.

Given that they all still had one more hour until curfew, many people would soon pass through the doors, and one of them, given how adorable her baby bunny was, was sure to let Peaches in.

Natalia had no other option but to leave as soon as she saw two third years making their way from the other corner of the room. With a sigh, and throwing one look towards her little pet, she walked away. When she heard the cooing noises coming out of their mouths, she was deadly sure the animal was already halfway in.

If things went well, then Sirius Black would find the parchment, do as it said, and meet her over the requirement room in about half an hour. If they didn't, then Peaches would be returned to a teacher before the next morning, and no one would have to know anything about it, and she'd have done her part in trying to tell them about the whole thing.

Sirius Black held onto the white rabbit tight, so it would not escape, and cursed under his breath because it was obvious to see the creature was leaving fur all over his black sweater. He prayed to Merlin no one would see them while holding that thing on his arm, because he was deadly sure he looked stupid- especially since the rabbit had an enormous lace ribbon around its neck, which considering who its owner was, could obviously not be of any other colour but pink.

Although the animal struggled and tried to escape his stranger touch, he wouldn't even dream about dropping it on the ground. If he did, he wouldn't hear the end of it as Natalia would surely manage to destroy his life on some very creative ways.

He had seen it just by chance. He had gotten into the common room along with his closest friends and Frank Longbottom, Alice Bingley and Mary McDonald, laughing off about this fourth year Slytherin who had obviously wanted to yinx them but had seen himself outnumbered and had no other option but to turn back on his steps and leave on a rather silly way. Then, he saw a bunch of people all surrounding something that none of the newly arrivers could see clearly; however, Sirius noticed most people there were girls, and always considering himself a lady's man, he made his way towards the middle of the circle before any of his friends.

What he found, he recognized it immediately. He didn't know of anyone in Hogwarts who had a pet rabbit but her. It had to be admitted, however, he was surprised she had been allowed to take the damn thing to school, since she already had that cat of hers.

Either way, soon, his friends were approaching too, and it was fair to say most of them seemed charmed by the little thing, as did everyone else. He thought it was rather silly, since it didn't do much but look 'cute' or whatever it was everyone else thought it to be- much like its owner, he supposed.

If he had to guess, he'd say that the rabbit was there because of him, since he supposed the blonde wouldn't be one to leave the animal just laying around for it to hop wherever it pleased in the castle, since it was highly likeable she over cooed the thing, so if he had to act, he better did it quickly.

Yanking a bunny away from that second year's lap and grip was a tricky thing, but if there was something female teenagers found even more appealing than adorable animals, it was good looking older boys, and Sirius Black was just the epitome of one. So yes, perhaps he had to endure the whining of about three of four girls, and there was even one who protested, but asides from that, there wasn't any further problem with what that concerned.

When his friends raised their brows and began questioning him for doing such a thing, he shrugged and explained himself with a simple ' _I don't like rabbits_ '

"Oi, Padfoot! You still can't take it away!"

"I'll give it to McGonagall" he shouted as he made his way out of the portray.

He had no idea what he was doing as he began walking away, neither did he know where he was heading to, but he was sure he had to get that animal away from the rest of his house. Perhaps what he was doing wasn't a smart move at all, for all he knew, that rabbit could be nothing but a trap set up so Yaxley and all her friends could find him alone and take their anger out on him since he was practically unprotected. Still, for some strange reason, he was there, and although he considered it to be an option, he wasn't that sure it was the case- yes, Natalia was a Slytherin and a spoilt brat, but for some reason he didn't think she'd do such a thing.

He stopped by some corridor, in order to inspect the thing he held on his arms. He tried doing it while standing, so he'd save some time, but the incessant movement from the animal made it impossible for him to do so, so instead he had to sit on the cold ground.

It was clear to him that the rabbit was already overfed, as it could be seen by the extra fat hanging over its stomach and chubby cheeks, however, fat or not, he was still able to find a little piece of paper tied around its neck. It was no surprise the others hand't pay attention to it, since the words only appeared when he touched it, so he suspected it must've been charmed.

 _'Meet me at the requirement room'_


	17. chapter 17

**hi, thanks for the 3 reviews! hoping to see more of those! I don't own anything from the Harry Potter universe.**

 _Saturday, January 15th, 1977._

Why on Merlin's name did Remus feel the need to tell Natalia Yaxley anything?

That was the first thought young Sirius Black's head was met with when he woke up the next morning. He had tried not thinking about it anymore after last night when he forced the thought out, but it simply popped up as soon as he opened his eyes. Well, could he really be blamed? The fact that one of his best friends thought it was alright for him to share that sort of information with a Slytherin he knew nothing about was worth a thought or two.

Hadn't he done the same thing? Yes, but to him, his motives were perfectly justified. He was snogging the girl, for Merlin's sake, and it really had been just a mistake caused by hormones mixed with a self-survival instinct, knowing what a sadist creature the girl was whenever she got sod off. But Remus? What was his excuse? Sirius began to wonder if perhaps he had underestimated whatever kind of relation those two had.

' _Please let Remus know as well'_ had her voice said just before he was going in for a kiss. Of course that sentence had completely put him off and any snog that they may've planned for the day was dismissed quite quickly after it, since he began inquiring why she'd want Remus to know anything and wasn't pleased when he heard the answer: ' _Well, because he told me about Friday'_

At the end, both wizards left the room with complete soured moods, and that little ritual they both had of walking together until they drifted apart wasn't met this time, since she stormed out quite quickly with her pet rabbit under her arm. Not that he cared, she could be a brat if she wanted to, all he was doing was asking and there was nothing wrong with it unless she had something to hide.

She hadn't even said thank you for what he did for her.

Neither had he for what she told him, but still.

With a groan, he flipped to his side, only to find he was the only one still in bed- even Peter, who was the last to everything, was already out of the room. Perhaps he shouldn't have stayed up until so late, but what else was one supposed to do when you had a yelling blonde brat after your arse.

Glancing over his hand clock he noticed it was a bit over 10:30 am, still having plenty of time until those cowardly snakes decided to ambush him and the rest of the marauders, which according to Yaxley, would happen just about 3:30 pm. He had of course not told anyone yet about that information, since it'd be impossible for him to explain where had he gotten it from, but nevertheless, he knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

Not even bothering on changing really, since it was a Saturday, he just put on his pajama trousers – since he had the habit of sleeping on his boxers and a shirt, even on winter, and walked down to the common room, where he found some other people from the house- slackers, like him, who were mostly still on their pajamas or really relaxed clothing. There was only another three people from his year, and while he wouldn't have minded talking to Sam Nicholls or Alice Bingley, he had several reasons to keep on avoiding Marlene McKinnon.

Being the common room such a… cozy place, and not being especially crowded during the mornings, naturally soon she rested those flaming amber eyes over him, and he felt like cursing Merlin, Morgana and every single person in the room since he had been busted just as he tried to escape. Sirius prided himself on doing quite a good job on staying out of her radar whenever his friends weren't around and didn't worry too much about if when in the company of any of the other marauders, since he assumed she wouldn't want to yell at him in front of other people who could possibly back him up- and he was right, to a certain extent. It had also helped that she had been avoiding him too, up until that moment.

Sirius saw her whisper something into Samantha's ear, making the other two witches look at him for a minute- had he cared about their opinion on him, he'd be feeling devastated, since those eyes excelled nothing but hatred. Honestly, what was that deal with girls about hating boys your friend snogged? A filthy useless habit, if you asked him.

He knew there wasn't much to do but to stand there, as she walked towards him, and the other two witches disappeared into their chambers, throwing one last _nasty_ look at him. If he had wanted to, he could've escaped- to rephrase that, if he hadn't cared about dealing with the consequences of escaping, he'd have done it.

Things hadn't been the same ever since he stood her up that night where it all began, back on Halloween when he had basically ditched her for Natalia Yaxley's lips. After that, Marlene had been furious, which was rather ridiculous, or so Sirius thought, given that she didn't even know about the snogging for he had refused to tell anyone, and besides, it wasn't as if they were a couple or anything- and so he told her, funny enough, that comment didn't help ease her mood. She avoided him and gave him the ice treatment ever since then, and they didn't talk more than two words again until mid-November, when he had reached out for her during a party and she accepted. They hooked up again a few times after that- he was after all, a very good lover and people their age had needs, so no wonder she kept on going with that odd relationship the two shared, even when she had made clear it wasn't all she wanted. Finally, Yule and Natalia Yaxley happened, and ever since they got back to Hogwarts Sirius had made everything on his power not to be caught off guards with the Gryffindor girl.

Truth was, he felt bad. He cared about Marlene very much, considering her to be not only the bravest and hottest girl he knew, but also a very good friend, and those were difficult to find. Still, he didn't love her; he had tried, when he found out she did have deeper feelings for him, but it just didn't happen. To that fact, he always tried paying it no mind, since it didn't do any good to anyone to think about it. He had made it clear he wanted nothing but hook ups, and she had accepted it, so there wasn't much to that. However, his recent arrangements with certain Slytherin had changed things a bit; it simply didn't feel right to act as if nothing strange was going on with Marlene, when he was snogging a girl he knew she despised, _hated_ , even- he respected Marlene enough not to do that.

"Hi" she said, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to look him in the eye "Got a second?"

Although he knew he was in no position to be playing cocky, he simply couldn't help it.

"Anything for you, Mar" he said with a wink, as if nothing strange were going on. He hoped to make her smile at the attitude, or at least complain about it- as she had done many times before, but he got nothing.

He followed her through outside the portrait in silence, as he wondered what on earth he was going to say to her. Obviously he couldn't tell her the real reason why he had stopped pretty much all contact with her ever since coming back from the Holidays, despite the fact that they had had sex just a few nights before leaving the castle for Christmas, but he knew he had to say something when she asked- because of course she was going to ask.

They kept walking all the way into a deserted corridor, which had a few benches here and there. It was clear to see she wanted some privacy, and to be honest, so did he, considering he was still wearing his pajamas.

"What'd you wanna talk about?" he let out casually.

"Have I done something wrong?"

Well, that wasn't exactly what he had been preparing for. All he had planned on saying were made up excuses that sounded nice enough for her to let him bit for a while, until he got tired of that rather questionable thing he had with Yaxley and he could go back to good classic Marlene, but he hadn't even considered for a second she'd ask something like that.

Marlene McKinnon was aware she was an attractive witch, so that was the first time Sirius had seen her insecurities arise.

"What? No! Why'd you say that?" the surprise he felt was passed on into his voice, a good thing considering it managed to get her to relax, after realizing he was saying the truth.

"Well, I figured perhaps you were upset about something and that's why you've been ignoring me and stuff"

"I wasn't ignoring you"

The look she gave her let him know she didn't believe that at all, and she was able to see he knew that she knew that. Was lying still the smart path to take? Probably not, but Sirius decided to play along with it for a bit more.

"I've been just… busy" he shrugged, resting his back on the stone "Yes, very busy. Sorry about that, babes" he said with a smirk.

That last word got the effect he wanted, and he had to hide the rejoicing smile he felt creeping through his face. _Babes_ was something they often heard Frank Longbottom call his girlfriend, Alice Bingley, ever since they began dating back in fifth year; they simply found it hilarious, so naturally they adopted it and began using it in that weird relationship the two had. For Marlene it had a weird effect, since it represented that they had something of their own- because Sirius Black didn't do pet names with anyone, but at the same time, it was rather painful, because it seemed clear the only reason why he used it was to get a laugh out of it, and she was nothing but a fun girl with whom he would have occasionally laugh with.

She was that, just a friend. That's how he saw her. So of course, after that roll of eyes and that smile she had tried suppressing, there came the sad hint on her eyes, and Sirius noticed. With a sigh he tried pushing away the feeling of guilt. He wanted to make her feel better, because he knew he was the reason behind most of her blue moods. That's why he thought maybe what he was about to do wasn't as bad.

"Let's do something, tonight. What you say?" all he had to offer her was a somehow almost genuine relaxed smile, and her eyes would light up with joy.

"Alright" she said after a few minutes, a small curvature on her lips as she looked everywhere but his face. She felt slightly embarrassed, because he just had to say it and she'd do anything for him.

"Wanna grab some breakfast now?" he placed an arm around her shoulder

She nodded, offering a small smile, and so they began walking one next to the other, talking about nothing important at all, just like the good old days. When she stretched a hand to touch the loose ends of his curls, he said: "Don't touch my hair. You know I hate that"

* * *

There were certain oddities in life, one could simply not ignore. To Simon Yaxley, the fact that both his sister and her friend were completely silent during breakfast was one of those things. The lack of talking wasn't the only remarkable thing that day, but also, their bitter faces were as noticeable as stars. Given that the whole hair changing problem had been partially solved by Sloghorn, and it was going to be finished after he and the boys did their part later that day in Hogsmeade, he could not find a possible reason for the girlfriends to be in such a dark mood.

He was about to believe perhaps the two had fought with each other, but after seeing his sister sneaking some bacon off Jane's plate and the other not saying anything about it made him drop that theory. Whatever it was going on with the two of them was something else.

Merlin knew he should've stayed out of that. Honestly, all he ever wanted whenever the two blonde witches were behaving normally was for them to shut up and leave him alone, now that they were doing that, he needed to go and stick his nose into it. He knew he'd regret it.

"What's the matter with you two?" he asked as he put an enormous amount of scrambled eggs up his mouth, leaning over his plate a bit so he wouldn't spill as much.

Hippolytus nodded as well, but said nothing. Much smarter than Simon had been, and that was surprising considering he was an only child whose mother had died when he was just a baby, but still he seemed to know how to act around women when they seemed angry better than the Yaxley boy; self-preservation skills or whatever.

"What?"

"I asked if there's a reason why you two are looking so murderous this morning. That's all"

"Everything's fine"

"Doesn't look like it"

Had Natalia had her wand at hand, she'd have hexed him with no second thought, or so it seemed by the darkened look on her eye. Instead, the girl simply stood up, grabbing Jane by the shoulder.

"Come on, we can get our food at Hogsmeade, without being interrogated"

She threw one last nasty look to her brother, daring him to say anything before the two of them took off.

Simon Yaxley was left completely speechless. He knew he had a special talent when it came annoying Natalia, since she was his sister and that was basically his job and he took it very seriously at times, but this time he had tried to do actually quite the opposite and still ended up being the bad guy in the play. He looked at Hippolytus, hoping he may have an explanation for what just happened, but the boy was as clueless as himself.

Had he known his sister had a secret loose relationship with Sirius Black, he may've guessed what got the witch so upset in a matter of seconds. Then again, things would be very different had he know what was going on after curfew.

Natalia Yaxley was having a nice enough morning. She had woken up just after nine thirty and had stayed in bed for as long as she wanted to- Jane wasn't there to force her out, since she was taking a very long morning shower after having her natural hair colour restored. Since it was Saturday, Natalia decided she'd put everything that could bother her aside, so she could enjoy the day- that being Sirius Black's prick-ish attitude from the previous night, when she had been nothing but a darling and he hadn't even said a proper thank you. She was enjoying a very nutritious breakfast, a certain boy very far from her worries, thinking about all the things she'd buy once they got to Hogsmeade – she needed new robes and some candy.

Then she saw It.

She had noticed his absence before; want it or not, yes, her head automatically tended to drift towards the place where he usually sat, it was just instinctive. That morning he hadn't been there, and she hadn't thought much of it, if anything seeing it as a good sign since the least she wanted to do was look at his face after the way he had behaved before. She had been so entertained with her food and the enjoyment of having a full Saturday for herself that she didn't notice them at first, but then her eyes drifted lazily and there they were.

Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon entering the great hall together. Close; too close.

The smile dropped from her face faster than she had fallen asleep the previous night.

It was a good thing Jane's mind was still miles away, for if she had been on her usual meticulous self she'd have not only noticed something was wrong with her friend, but would've also forced her to admit the truth to her.

Natalia just couldn't help but to scold herself. What for? She wasn't sure. Mainly because she should have seen it coming; after all, it wasn't as if Black was known around the castle for being the image of chastity and innocence. For Merlin's beard, even the first time they had made out he had been with Marlene, and the rumors had it she had been his recurrent girl for quite a while now. Natalia simply assumed nothing was going on anymore; she had dared think he'd stop things with other people if he was sneaking out with her. Yes, they weren't on a relationship, and she understood that, still seeing them together angered her.

He didn't even look at her at first, sending her anger leves up to her roof even more and making her move her vision towards her own table, because there was no way on earth she'd want him thinking she was interested on whatever he was doing; and also, because if she kept glaring that way, some Slytherins such as her brother could've noticed. When he did throw a few glances towards her, Marlene was long gone and involved on a conversation with Lily Evans, but Natalia Yaxley wasn't looking anywhere else but her own plate.

"Jane" said Natalia on a soft voice, as they picked up their clothes for their afternoon. She was resting a baby blue sweater over her already dressed chest to see how it'd look on her, deciding it looked rather lovely

"Yes?" the other girl asked. Unlike her friend, she didn't have a series of non-chosen outfits thrown down at her feet. She had picked the clothes she'd wear on that day about a week before, back when she was much more thrilled about her plans.

"What do you know about Marlene McKinnon?"

To this the girl paid no mind, while buttoning up her blouse. Chances were, the Gryffindor had done something to anger the Slytherin and that was why she was asking - it didn't take too much to piss Natalia off.

"Not much." She shrugged "Dad likes the McKinnons. Then again, dad likes pretty much everyone"

"Yes, but her, I mean. Do you know if she's smart?"

This question, did get a bit more interest from the brown eyed witch, however, she didn't mention anything of it.

"Uhm… not sure. I think so, Professor McGonagall quite likes her. And she plays Quidditch too"

"Yes, _she plays Quidditch too_ "

And that bitter tone got Jane Abbott to raise her brow, wondering what on earth had gotten into Natalia. However, as many other things from that day and the previous one, she let it slid, since she considered herself to be having enough things on her mind to add Natalia's as well.

"So I'll see you around five thirty by Zonko's. Right?"

"Five thirty?" Natalia rose a thick brow "So you're going"

"You knew I had a date with James"

"I figured you weren't going after what that git did to you!" Her blue eyes looked as if they were demanding an answer, but the other witch simply shrugged, not even bothering on looking at her friend, perhaps too ashamed of her judgment "That's what any sensible witch would do"

Jane's voice wasn't heard for a while, but when it did, it came out clear and completely emotionless. It made Natalia feel as if she was talking to her mother instead of her best friend.

"Well, I guess I'm not a sensible witch at all"

After that she said something about meeting her later and then grabbed her things and left towards the bathrooms, leaving Natalia all by herself and wondering with whom she could spend the rest of the day, because staying in the castle wasn't an option.

The only good thing that came out of Jane's completely out of character's behavior was the fact that it got Natalia's mind out of what had been troubling her earlier. Now, instead of worrying about a womanizer boy who'd kiss her at midnight but walk into the great hall with other witches, she had to worry about her best friend going completely mental.

"The guy's cauldron's completely empty, not to mention that pestilent smell that comes out of his mouth every time he opens it"

"Maybe, but his family's vault would be of help, and you know that. We need all the help we can get"

Natalia sighed loudly as she rested her cheek over her hand, her eyes searching for any source of entertainment on the wall. She hoped her evident annoyance would produce some kind of reaction on the boys and they'd suddenly start paying attention to her and spare her the boredom, but it got her nothing more than an over the eye look before they reassumed their conversation.

How could boys be so clueless regarding her needs? She didn't think she asked for too much, and yet, they always seemed to be disappointing her every chance they got. Even Sirius Black, a person who she expected the least of managed to let her down still, showing up with perfect McKinnon for breakfast after not apologizing for the way he had acted the previous night.

Now, she had to bear listening to her brother's and Hippolytus dreadful, _boring_ conversation in which they hadn't even bothered including her in. They were talking once again about what people on her circle called 'the cause', a subject that seemed to be on every single adult's mouth but of which Natalia held little interest for during moments like those when her best friend was acting absolutely ballistics and the boy she snogged was behaving like a dorcus.

Not only she looked rather lovely and was wasting it with company who didn't even compliment on it but the day was absolutely gorgeous as well, and she was stuck inside three broomsticks which was filled basically by the same people she saw at Slytherin every other day. On top of all that, she had already finished her lunch, so there wasn't food to entertain herself on either.

The only thing left to do was gluing her eyes to the window, hoping something interesting may pass by and provide her with some sort of entertainment. Good thing she did that, if not, she wouldn't have seen Marlene McKinnon and her friends walk while laughing, and she wouldn't have done what she did next.

"Where are you going?" Her brother asked slightly annoyed when she stood up. He really was trying to come up with important stuff for his next meeting, and his sister- with whom he had been stuck with since she had no one else to hang out with, made it very difficult to do so since she was making little sounds and movements every two or three seconds.

"I'm off to Honeydukes" she replied quickly, the lie coming naturally out of her lips as she stuffed her wand inside her bag. After all, she was indeed planning on going there later, after she did what she had to do, since her stash was on alarming low levels "I'll see you later"

"I told you we would go there later, can't you wait?" Simon sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I'll go by myself, it's fine" she said quickly, not taking her eyes off the window on fears of losing track of the Gryffindors "Seriously, I'll see you later at Hogwarts and I'll even buy you some blood pops"

Whatever it was he said after, she didn't hear it, for she was already outside the place when that happened. She had no idea what she was planning on doing, but one thing was sure, she had to follow Marlene McKinnon and then perhaps she could decide what to do on the way.

She ignored the little voice in her head, the reasonable one that told her what she doing was pathetic. A witch of her breeding and category chasing after people like those Gryffindors who couldn't have distinguished between cashmere and simple wool seemed ridiculous and yet for some reason she was doing just that. She'd later on blame it on her boredom and lack of interesting companions, but deep enough she knew well enough she was doing that because of Sirius Black.

The girls weren't on a rush, so it was easy for Natalia to keep up with them, and the lot was so focused on their own conversation that none of them noticed the blonde witch walking over their footsteps. For what she could heard, they were discussing a rather dull topic too, much like her brother and friend- the one in the middle, who she recognized to be Alice Bingley was whining about Evan's absence, while the one to her right, a Nichols assured that the mudblood was having a great time on her date with a seventh year.

Aside from that little fact, nothing else they said was even remotely interesting. Natalia swore she could get more gossip from a pair of first years on September first than she could from the Gryffindor lot. It wasn't until they passed Zonkos' and Marlene's eyes posed on its window for a minute too long, that things became interesting.

"So what did you and Black talk about, Mar?" Nichols, the one with auburn hair asked

"I told him what I told you already" she shrugged "and he said he had been busy"

"Oh, he didn't" the girl replied back, clearly pissed at that answer.

"Yes, but he also said he'd make up to me"

Natalia's eyebrows were close to reaching her hair line. To be quite honest, she found it difficult to keep herself walking on the same pace as before, as all she wanted to do was get closer to the other girls so she could hear a bit better, although it really wasn't necessary, she had been blessed with an impressive talent for eavesdropping; Natalia Yaxley could be ten miles away and she would still hear the whole thing. However, the mention of Sirius Black 'making it up' to Marlene McKinnon was incentive enough for her to want to get a bit closer.

"How is he going to make it up to you? The git's been ignoring you for weeks!"

' _Yes, how is he going to make it up to you, Marlene_?' the little voice inside Natalia's head asked frenetically while trying to ignore that tiny feeling of pleasure she got from hearing the Gryffindor had been ignored by him for quite a while.

"Well… we're meeting tonight"

' _Where?_ '

"At one of those old classrooms… over in the fifth floor, you know which ones, a few minutes before curfew. I'll need you to cover for me" she said pleadingly, looking at her two friends with desperation.

"Oh, Marny! You shouldn't go"

"I agree with Alice, Mar. Are you going to have sex with him?"

' _Say you aren't_ '

"No! Well… maybe? I'm not sure."

It was almost visible, how the colour ran out of the Slytherin's face, that owed to two reasons: the first, she didn't want Sirius Black having sex with Marlene McKinnon, in fact, she didn't want him having sex with anybody; he was with her now, one way or another, the only person with whom he should be trying to have sex with was her - not that he'd get it. Secondly, she had been caught.

Not being a witch known for her speed, Natalia was absolutely surprised at her own self by the way in which she had managed to turn her body around and stare at one empty window, pretending it was a shop-front. She knew her face had a tendency to appear innocent, so she used that on her advantage, and after bearing a long weary look from all Gryffindors, she sighed when they left. If there was anything left for her day to be ruined was people beneath her thinking she was following them, and what was worse, them telling other people about it.

Letting the girlfriend group go away, since following implied big chances of getting caught and also because she wasn't so sure she wanted to keep hearing anything more, Natalia returned with a slow walk towards the center of the town, her mind far away from everything else, the news having affected her much more than she thought could be possible.

She didn't consider herself to be a selfish person, there were times when sharing her sweets or toys with friends and family brought her more joy than those things themselves, but she knew very well, some things weren't meant to be shared. A boy she considered good and interesting enough to risk a month worth on detention for to meet every night definitely counted as one of those things that were out of charity lines. What affected her the most, was the fact that the person taking pleasure of something that momentarily belonged to her was someone who she completely detested, a step away from being a blood traitor, quite poor but almost perfect on every other way- which made it even worst.

The thought of him doing some of the things he did with her with someone else, although he had surely done it many times before with thousands of girls made her stomach feel weird and heavy. She didn't know how, but she had to stop whatever it was taking place that night.

Had she not been plotting against Marlene McKinnon's night plans, she'd have noticed just where she was heading, which was really the only place from which she had told herself to stay away from. She was lucky her brother had such an strident voice, if not, she'd have lifted her eyes off the ground and wouldn't' have notice she was standing just in the middle of an ongoing duel which included half of the male Slytherin population and four poor Gryffindors, among those, Sirius Black. What was curious about that, was the fact that at least three out of four marauders wore gigantic grins on their faces, despite the fact that they were terribly outnumbered.

Without really wanting it, when her eyes landed on the boy and for an instant, their eyes connected; hers, demaning an explanation of why he was there, when she had perfectly told him what was going to happen to him if he frequented said street; his, asking the same thing, regarding why on Merlin's beard was she standing right in the middle of it all. He had to yell at her in order for her to come back to reality, and throwing one look over her brother, she knew he'd give her a piece of his mind later.

Somehow she managed to avoid most of the hexes, except for one quite poorly attempted one coming from Zacharyas Dolley, a fourth year from her house, who at best gave a bit of an itch on her leg.

Natalia stood by the side, as many other witches and wizards did – not a lot, considering they had chosen a rather non frequented street since they didn't want to get in any trouble. As she witnessed the duel take place, she simply had to deny with her head at the sight of those Gryffindors, Black particularly; of course, what had she been thinking? Was she seriously expecting Black wouldn't consider the bare mention of danger as something appealing and that should actually be perused instead of avoided? The git was even taking pleasure on the whole thing, by the looks of it, and Natalia couldn't help but to smile a little on amusement – true, she had many reasons why to be mad at Sirius Black, but just for a second, she allowed herself to feel amused by the fact that despite his many flaws, he truly was one of a kind.

A teacher broke it off only a few minutes after, apparently some student had gone over and rat them all out – luckily for the boys, a first year had approached them quite out of breath to let them know the adult was coming before it actually did, so when Professor Flitwick made himself present, none of the students were seen doing anything they shouldn't be doing, so no detention was to be given to any of them. By looking at both teams, one couldn't pick up who had been the loser and who the winner, since they all showed similar deplorable states, but giving that one side had been armed with at least three times the wands as the others, one could consider that as an answer.

The fact that they hadn't gotten detention was a shame, on Natalia's books, because had they been given one, that'd have been her way of making sure Sirius Black wouldn't be doing anything he wasn't supposed to with anyone. But oh well, seemed as if Merlin wanted her to do all the hard work herself.

She'd have liked to go over and talk to Sirius, demanding an answer to why he was there that didn't include being an idiotic Gryffindor, but she knew that was impossible, unless she wanted people raising questions whereas why she'd talk to him. As she was about to turn the other way so she wouldn't be dragged to the castle by the teacher way before her time at Hogsmeade was done, as everyone else was, she found herself unable to do so since her brother began walking to her right, forcing her to do the same.

"What on Merlin's beard did you think were doing here?"

He sounded angry, however, it didn't take a genius to realize her presence there hadn't actually upset him, but the fact that he hadn't gotten his way regarding the marauders. Of course, he was going to take it off on Natalia, she figured.

"I was just walking by. Not need to yell at me. Because of that little duel if yours I'm being sent early to the castle, thank you very much"

"Stop behaving like a brat" he muttered "and next time check where you're going. All I need now is talking to father and mother to tell them you've gotten yourself injured?"

He took off and began marching by himself, making Natalia take an outraged gasp. She adored her brother, she truly did, but there were days in which she wished she could cast a few curses on his arse, that being one of them.

For the rest of the walk until she reached the castle, she got the time she needed to come up with some sort of plan regarding what worried her the most. As Hippolytus walked her way to join her, after being barked off by her brother, she smiled widely, having found an answer to her situation.

"I don't understand why _I_ have to go with you" he groaned as he let his book drop over his chest "Can't you just ask Jane?"

He had been enjoying a quiet read over at his chambers, laying on his bed and ready to put on his pajamas any moment given, enjoying the tranquility of an empty bedroom – all the others were plotting some kind of revenge plan outside in the common room, of which he was too tired to take part of - besides, what was the point? The Gryffindors usually got away with things and they should accept this would be one of those times and instead focus on things that mattered. All of his tranquility lasted until Natalia had made her way in, not even bothering with knocking, and began whining asking for him to go with her find a book she had forgotten at one of the old classrooms.

"No!" she stomped her foot against the ground "Every time she opens up her mouth she begins talking about that date of hers with Potter and I just can't bare another second of it. Plus, she's already asleep, the bore"

"And why can't you go by yourself?"

"I'll simply get too bored by myself! It's a long way" she said simply, and upon seing he was about to voice out is opinion about that not being reason enough to get him out of bed in the middle of winter, she added "besides, you know how whimpy I get when the ghosts pass through me, and that little git Peeves told them all to do it whenever they saw me, if you came, I'm sure none of them would dare do something"

He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to hold unto the last few seconds of peace. Then, he grabbed his book, closed it and set it over his night table, standing up and waving his shoes on. A perfectly good lecture night wasted for some girl.

"Let's go" he groaned.

"You're simply a darling!" she smiled, turning on her feet and trotting towards the door, her voice sounding cheerful and quite melodic "I'll go get my robe and off we go"

As they climbed floor by floor, for they lived in the dungeons and had to get up to the fifth, Natalia could hear Hippolytus talking to her, complaining about her brother and how he was being a pain in the arse lately, and while in any other occasion she'd have probably been more than eager to take part in a conversation like that, she simply couldn't focus on it for too long, disturbing and grim images of McKinnon and Sirius flashing her mind every once in a while, along with worries that perhaps, she was already too late. And if she were late, what was she going to do? Well, of course she should end their thing off – hers and Sirius', that is, but still, one small but very loud part of her brain told her that such a choice wouldn't be so easy.

The Slytherin boy didn't mention anything regarding the lack of words coming from Natalia, if anything was grateful. To be quite honest he didn't need her to agree with him or anything at all, the only wanted was to let it all out and talking to himself would only made him sound like a complete lunatic.

When they arrived to the floor where the pair of Gryffindors was supposed to be doing whatever indecency they were thinking on doing, Natalia realized she didn't exactly know in which room they'd be, since the other witch hadn't been clear enough back when she was spying on her. She was in luck that day, it seemed, given that the brown haired boy next to her was so absorbed on his complaining that he didn't seem to notice anything strange as she started opening random doors, popping her head in and then leaving once she realized those were empty.

In bitterness the blonde witch wondered why hadn't Sirius taken his oh so amazing smart, tall, Quidditch player of a friend to the requirement room, given that that'd have given them more privacy; the only possible thing for which he hadn't done that was that he knew what he was doing was wrong and that Natalia finding out would've gotten him in trouble, which meant that Natalia trying to boycott the whole thing was not only completely justified but the reasonable thing to do – yes, she nodded to herself, on a relationship or not, he couldn't do what he was about to do as long as he kept things going with her as well.

By the way in which Hippolytus was arching his brows she could tell he was starting to realize something odd was going on, so she needed to hurry; however, she could attribute the fact that she had forgotten in which room she left the book to her chattiness; should he ask, she'd simply said she had been so immersed into a conversation with Jane that she had forgotten which room they had been in.

When she pushed open the sixth door on the right side, what she saw made her feel many things she doubted were even possible to feel all together at the same time: relief, because that way she wouldn't have to beg her friend to keep on helping her although she clearly didn't know in which room exactly – out of 52, she was supposed to find her book; satisfaction, because thanks to her amazing brains, she had gotten what she wanted, which was to avoid anything too comprising to happen between the two Gryffindors, an judging by the fact they both still had their bottoms on, she wasn't too late yet; but there was one feeling that stung like an hex and somehow managed to overshadow all of the other ones almost immediately, and not matter how much she tried to denied it seemed clear that the feeling was nothing but jealousy.

His shirt was unbuttoned and widely open, and the hand that was resting over the other witch's bare waist seemed to drop when he saw the two familiar faces enter the room; she still had her trousers and a white bra on, but her shirt rested on the floor. Their faces shifted towards the door in less than a second when they felt it go open, and although their surprised expressions were still there once they noticed it wasn't a professor but instead two students they managed to show some relief – well, Marlene did, Sirius looked as if he'd have preferred the professor and all the detention that'd come with it.

"Oh" Natalia said innocently, on a clear voice, pretending to be surprised, but that acting wasn't able to fool Sirius "Wasn't aware we had a brothel in the castle, were you, Hippolytus?" she asked with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes – eyes that on a normal day were as clear and innocent as the sky, but on that particular moment looked as dangerous as a deep river, daring you to get in to later drown you.

She didn't look up to see Hippolytus face, had she done that she'd have notice his expression was the perfect representation of disgust. No, she didn't look up because she was too occupied with looking at Sirius' face, whose eyes were focused on her own, demanding for an explanation of some sort. She had no idea what Marlene McKinnon's face looked like, given that she was hiding it while at the same time trying to hide her almost completely bare chest.

"Classy move, Black" was all the boy said, arching his brows once again. Had it been another person, perhaps he'd have done them the mercy to walk away without much said and take Natalia with him, but Sirius Black had gotten him and his friends to be the arse of the joke a few too many times for him to let him out of a situation like that with such gentleness. Soon, a cool smile showed on his long face, and crossed his arms in front of his chest, following Natalia's example and walking a few steps.

To Marlene McKinnon – had she been looking, the Slytherins' faces would have appeared exactly the same, but for someone who had been aware of the interior motives, like Sirius Black was, it seemed clear that Hippolytus Lestrange was simply amused with the fact he'd be getting some fun out of torturing two Gryffindors – very expected reaction from a Slytherin, and even understandable up to some degree if one considered one of those Gryffindors there present had contributed to have the whole snake's house's hair looking utterly ridiculous for a whole day; Natalia Yaxley's intentions weren't that simple and she wouldn't be satisfied with showing some mild cruelty and that was worrying, because Slytherins were one vicious bunch of people when upset.

"Ever heard of privacy?" he mumbled, while buttoning up his shirt a bit.

"Yes" Natalia Yaxley smiled brightly from one of the corners of the room, crossing her arms in front of her chest "Usually, Black, people are taught about that along with decency, _but_ , seems like you two missed that lesson"

"Could just simply go away?" Marlene barked angrily, refusing to let herself be talked down by two of the castle's biggest blood supremasistic arseholds who thought themselves to be much better than everyone else. Deciding she couldn't defend herself while having her bare back facing them and given that Sirius hadn't bothered tossing her the shirt she had been wearing earlier, she stretched her arm and quickly put it on, trying not to let herself be intimidated by those two seeing her on her bra – she had a killer body and was aware of that, and while she'd have preferred those Slytherins to never see her in such poor garments as that, it could be worse "Aren't you supposed to be hexing first years to feel better about yourselves?" she said that as she turned her body to face the newly arrived.

Sirius flinched upon the comment, but tried not to let it show. Not that he disagreed on insulting Slytherins, especially not on a situation like that one where the other two were clearly invading something private, but because Natalia was there and knew that when provoked, she could turn one little problem into a much bigger one – not for nothing was she called the castle' biggest drama queen.

Natalia simply giggled, and unlike many of the giggles Sirius Black had been getting from her – which were close enough to be light-hearted, this one had glimpses of malice attached to it.

"Two scumsukers instead of one"

"Yes, I say that's quite a better option to invest our time in instead of some little first years"

While Natalia and Hippolytus talked, the Gryffindors got up from the desk, and stood straight in front of them.

"Shut your mouth for a second, Yaxley. I'll get dry from that much rubbish you're talking"

She raised a brow, clearly amused he had the nerve to talk back to her when on her opinion all he should be doing was admitting he shouldn't be doing what he was found doing. Then again, what else could she expect from Sirius Black? No matter how much of a good kisser he was, or how he'd behave decently-ish every one in a while, he still was a Gryffindor rat, one that could not be trusted.

"Not sure you're in the position to be talking to me that way, Black" she said dangerously, obviously implying much more than the other two wizards were able to understand "Then again, you've always made stupid choices"

"Funny how you're the one talking about stupid" said Marlene, with a satisfied thin smile on her face, knowing fully well that what she was going to say next would definitely cause some sort of reaction "As far as I know your tiny brain only works once a day and you've already used it to put on your shoes this morning"

Sirius was unable to do anything else but to observe the short witch's face, finding it had darkened – he knew how pretty much everyone in the castle considered Natalia to be a complete empty cauldron head who only talked about clothes and girly things, he had been one of those people not too long ago, but now while he wouldn't say Natalia Yaxley was the brightest witch in the whole castle, he knew she wasn't dumb and that said subject was touchy for her and while not her favourite person in the world, in the last few weeks he had come to discover Natalia Yaxley was actually an alright person – she had tried taking care of him when he was wounded, in the woods (in his animal form, but still, she had been very human about it), and he had also witnessed her try and do a very selfless thing in favour of her brother; but what could he do? If he defended her, that'd without doubts raise questions from every single person in the room, including the witch in question herself, thinking he was in love with her or something; besides, what on earth was she doing there? He had been the one interrupted and now he was supposed to be defending her: So he settled to observe her warily, and if any of them had been paying attention, they'd have caught a glimpse of protectiveness as well.

Lestrange dropped a hand softly over Natalia's shoulder, while he smiled coolly and said: "and you'd be familiar with small brains, aren't you friends with half of the mudblood Hogwarts population?

Both Gryffindors' got pissed at the insinuations, but while Sirius managed to keep his cool, since he was used to comments as such, given who his family was and the people they established friendship with, Marlene wasn't, and those comments which she rarely heard at all (And when she did they came from Slytherins) made her blood boil with anger, and it showed on her face.

"Sod off, Lestrange" she almost barked at him, taking a few steps forward and making the boy laugh.

"Very brave for an unarmed witch" he said while making his own wand move between his fingers.

To this statement, the tall witch looked over her shoulder, to find that hers and Sirius's were resting on the other end of the room since they hadn't wanted anything to happen to them while they… made out.

"And I'm the one with a tiny brain" Natalia laughed "Ah, anyway… I feel like we should leave… scumsucker's smell tends to stick and I already wasted my hour of intelligence putting on my shoes and on this attempt of a conversation, won't be able to get a bath now, will I?" she said with an amused smile as she took hold of Hippolytus forearm and began walking away.

"Enjoy, Black. She must've cost you a few galleons" was all that Hippolytus said, gaining a few giggles from his Slytherin counterpart and a growl from the other two.

"Watch it, Lestrange"

"Cool off, Black. He was only joking" Natalia said coldly, raising her head from above her shoulder "Do please have a great night"

And as she walked away, she tried holding Sirius Black's stare for as long as she was able to, and it was so intense that it wasn't easy. She didn't even bother 'suggesting' them to go back to their dorms, for she guessed her labor there was rather finished – Black would surely not be as stupid to keep on staying there after he knew two Slytherins had seen him and could tell on him just like that.

When they closed the door behind them, Hippolytus looked down so he could meet his friend's eye.

"Don't think I saw your book there"

"Me neither" she sighed, trying not to raise any suspicion "But it's alright. I'll try again tomorrow. It's almost curfew time, don't wanna get in trouble, now do we?" She smiled brightly.

Hippolytus noticed that was the kind of charming smile all Yaxleys had whenever they wanted to get something from someone. And it appeared to him that Natalia Yaxley wanted him to drop the book subject and to go back to their common room. Hippolytus Lestrange always paid attention.

"Perfect, I'll come with you"


	18. chapter 18

**Hi! Just a quick thank you to all of you who reviewed! You've no idea how happy and much motivated to keep writting those things make me! So yeah, thank you .2019 who always makes sure to leave one lovely comment on each chapter. Thank you Nana who always leaves these very ecxiting long reviews and suggestions 3 and by the way, your English is great!. Finally, thank you MessyMindYou glad to deliver the cringe and akwardness into your life ;)**

 **Just in case you were wondering, I kind of picture Natalia as Lily James during Cinderella (which is on the cover)** **Anyway, remember Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling and please enjoy! Would love to hear what you thought of this.**

 _January 21st, 1977._

A whole week went by and Natalia Yaxley was still giving Sirius Black the cold shoulder despite the many attempts he had made to make her open her mouth. It was very ironic, considering that he had tried shutting her up for years without succeeding at it. He guessed that his lack of luck was mostly due to the fact that the only time they ever saw each other and were able to talk without raising any suspicion was during Transfigurations and its difficult convincing someone to talk to you while trying to avoid detention with the elder witch. By the third day he gave up trying and instead adopted a defensive approach about it, after all, why should _he_ be the one trying to regain her attention when she had been the one screwing with his plans and getting all mad about it, after all, she knew what she was getting into when she agreed to be with him at all, he was Sirius Black, he had a reputation and was aware of people knowing that; what was she expecting him to do? Change his ways because of her just like that? Yeah, as if that could happen. He was a free soul and just as most of his favourite rock and wrock stars, he couldn't be caged, especially not by some prissy, blonde brat whose biggest aspiration in life was to live the exact same life as her and his parents. That's why Wednesday and Thursday he paid her back with the same kind of attitude an completely ignored her, not even bothering on telling her off when her bird conjuring charm came out too strongly and one of the canaries bit him on the ear.

It wasn't as if he wasn't going to talk to her again, he wasn't even waiting for an apology; in fact, he was planning on getting on as if nothing had happened as soon as she started behaving normally again, after all, he could understand her reasoning behind the way she had acted last Saturday, he was a handsome wizard and naturally she'd get jealous if he decided to be with other witches. He was merely teaching her a lesson to keep her away from his business; a few days without paying her mind would soon result on her craving for his attention once more, then everything would go back to normal.

He wasn't even planning on seeing Marlene again, for Merlin's sake. He had felt off about it even before Saturday, but after Natalia interrupted them he realized he preferred to stick to one witch at the time and at the current moment he decided that should be Yaxley.

Sirius reckoned that by next Tuesday she'd be begging for someone to talk with during class, so he only would have to ignore her for less than a week to enjoy once more of the… tricks Natalia Yaxley had to offer. Yes, that was the plan, and it was all going smoothly, until Friday happened.

During Friday, after class, Sirius Black seemed to have fallen into one of those moods in which he preferred to be left alone by most people and take some air on the grounds of the castle, near the great lake. Whenever that happened, being a non-documented animagus surely helped. No matter what anyone said, running as a dog was a hundred times more liberating than doing it so as a human. He was only in the middle of his tenth lap when he saw golden curls lying on the snowy field. She was wearing a white hat with a pompon on top and the gloves he had given her for Christmas too, and had managed to find a greenish spot by the lake; she was leaning forwards against her own legs and thanks to his magnified view, he could see she was reading a letter. What surprised him the most was the fact that she seemed to be unaccompanied – even when she wasn't avoiding him, she was always either with Jane or her brother or Lestrange even. She looked confused, a few lines showed over her forehead and white smoke was coming off her mouth, a product from the cold.

Unsure of what possessed him to do that, the black dog walked towards her, making sure to be slow enough not to scare her. She didn't see him until he was about a meter away from her, so he could've escaped if he had wanted to. But he stayed. The way her expression changed the minute she saw him, a fond smile taking place and the frown gone, he _literally_ couldn't help but to shake his tail.

"Hi, Goldie!" she said as she pulled the letter away, inside her bag "Come here, boy" she sang cheerfully as she patted her tight.

Not even doubting it for a second, he did as he was told. He told himself he was only doing that because he was a good guy. It was very cold out there and everyone knew girls were more prone to be chilly than boys were. It'd be cruel to just leave her to die out of coldness when he could help.

When he sat next to her and she began shaking his fur just roughly enough so he could feel it, he moved the tail once again, cursing to himself. Not that he could be blamed tho, it felt good.

"You disappeared on me last time, Gold" she reprimanded, but in her eyes there was not a glimpse of annoyance or anything that looked like it. She was simply genuinely happy to see him again. Perhaps had he known who that dog really was, she wouldn't have felt the same way. "I could've convinced papa to let me keep you, you know? Now I can't. I got a bunny over Yule and mother's always complaining about how there are too many animals in the house. Perhaps, if you wait until my birthday they'll be indulgent again and let me have you… That's in February, you know… Yes, maybe if we wait…

She was rambling now, eyes wondering off as she thought of ways to convince her parents to let her bring another stray into the house. Sirius kept on listening, but most of his attention was really on her face. He had grown used to looking at that side of her during the last few weeks; a bubbly and genuinely happy part that seemed excited about harmless things. He could deny it for as long as he wanted to, but he had missed her incessant talking during class and their little arguments that often ended up in one of them breaking a smile. Still, he couldn't do much until she decided to quit being annoyed about things that she simply couldn't and didn't have any rights to change.

She was caressing his head as she talked, and there was no denying he enjoyed the feeling, so when both things stopped, the talking and the petting, that is, of course he pulled up his head to demand for it to continue. What he found was her head turned and her eyes focused on something behind her back; when he moved so he could see whatever it was that had stolen her attention all of the sudden, wondering if perhaps he should fade away, in case it was someone who may recognize him, he spotted no one else but Alastar Travers, waving as he made his way towards them, a wide smile on his face.

The look of perplexity worn by Natalia Yaxley would've matched Sirius, had she been able to see his human reaction. Whatever it was the Slytherin boy could want with her escaped both teenagers' knowledge's. Natalia knew from years of experience that Alastar Travers couldn't care less about holding a conversation with her alone for longer than a minute, and believe her, she had tried. Sirius, on the other hand, remembered very well from third year that the boy wanted nothing to do with her, in fact, he could recall all the mocking he did at her cost, whenever he got the chance, which meant they weren't friends; besides he had heard from one of the girls at Gryffindor that he and Allingway had the gross habit of making out around the castle when they thought people couldn't see them.

Just as he was getting close enough to touch them, Sirius stiffened and moved his frame closer to Natalia's. He guessed it was just instinctive; just because he wasn't on speaking terms with the blonde didn't mean he wanted anything bad to happen to her, and with those Slytherins one never knew what to expect – the fact that Travers was smiling and waving didn't mean anything.

"Hi, Natalia!" he said calmly. He managed to have a voice that was soft, from all those years on choir yet masculine enough for girls to giggle whenever they heard him, apparently they loved it "May I sit here with you?

She seemed very lost at words, her wide blue eyes staring up his face, so Sirius helped with a bark, getting the Slytherin to notice him as well.

"That's a big dog" he sounded nervous.

Suddenly, the girl seemed to remember the animal was there, much to Sirius annoyance. She looked at him and shook the fur on his head fondly, recovering from the surprise, her attention mildly back.

"This is Goldie, he won't hurt you" she assured, now looking back at the boy.

Travels didn't seem very sure about that, and Sirius thought that perhaps he was smarter than he gave him credit of. Still, the boy nodded and managed to put on a tight smile as he got closer.

"So… can I?"

"Oh, of course! Sorry" she said clearly confused, moving her bag so he could sit next to her, away from Sirius "So… what're you doing here?" her hand still rested on top of Sirius' head, but her eyes were on the blonde.

"Oh, just passing by, really" Alastar shrugged and Sirius could see that he was lying. He had done his fair share of lying in order to get on with girls and he could recognize that was exactly what was happening at the moment, and although the option did seem better than the Slytherin being there to attack her or something, the new option, for some reason, didn't appeal to him "What were you doing? It's quite cold" and as he said that, he rubbed both his hands together.

"Oh, just reading some letters…. Taking some fresh air" she shrugged too, waving her hair off her shoulder with one simple hand movement, a gesture many girls used to flirt but that Sirius had learned only came natural to Natalia during most times "The castle's too crowded and even worse at the common room. You know?"

"Yeah… Totally" then he cleared out his throat, ready to change the subject "So… I was thinking, we never spend time together. Why's that?"

The girl opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, completely taken by surprise with the straightforward statement and then question. Even worst, once she recovered from the initial surprise, then she'd have to answer and she knew exactly the reason why and was not interested on saying it out loud, reviving the embarrassment from it. If he was asking that it was clear that the whole incident was somehow forgotten.

"Uhm… I guess we kind of do different things"

That wasn't completely true but it seemed to be enough for him.

The actual reason why Alastar Travers had actively avoided Natalia Yaxley for most of their teenage years dated back to when they were both third years and was only slightly connected with him finding her personality a bit too much. Ever since an early age he was well liked by the opposite sex, labeled cute back then and now handsome, and of course Natalia wasn't blind to his charms and had held this crush on him ever since they started first year and he had been kind enough to offer to be her partner for potions. Everything went well for years, they even chatted during their free time and he didn't seem to find her as annoying as other people did and Natalia was very happy to keep her crush to herself until he, the boy, decided to make a move, because that was the appropriate thing to do. She remembered being absolutely jealous of Lily Evans, because despite being a newborn she had a somehow good looking and pureblood chasing after her half the time and she didn't have anything. Then third year happened.

It'd be fair to clarify that being thirteen makes you stupid and sometimes quite cruel, being a thirteen year old boy it's even worse. Even as for today, Natalia couldn't really remember what exactly had gotten the marauders into her, they mentioned something about some sort of comment towards a mudblood friend of theirs but who even remembered those things? Anyway, that day, the marauders sent a note her way, on the shape of bird, said note said it was from Alastar and that he wanted to meet her by the astronomy tower because he wanted to talk about their feelings. She was guilty of being far too naïve at the time, she'd admit that, because she didn't even doubt it for a second and after getting on her best robes she went over to meet him.

Simultaneously, Sirius had told Alastar that Natalia had been telling everyone the two were dating and that they used to meet over the astronomy tower to kiss – of course, Travers had been outraged when he heard of it, and Sirius happened to mention that she often went there by herself so people would think the two of them were there together and that she'd be there precisely, that afternoon.

The moment Natalia saw him coming into the tower she smiled widely and failed to notice the grimace on his face and the fact that many other people (who had been kindly invited by the marauders) were also there as well. He did say some terrible things to her, enough to make her cheeks go bright pink and make her cry for days after that. Everyone else laughed, even older kids were there. Anyway, ever since that day none of them had really talked much to each other, because Travers thought she was some kind of psycho who made up things in her head and she simply was too embarrassed.

The only positive thing that came out of all that episode was the fact that her brother and a few other Slytherin boys – by Simon's request, hexed the heck out of the four marauders, even Remus, who despite Natalia not knowing it, had taken little part on the whole deal.

Anyway, if Alastar Travers remembered such shameful episode, he didn't show any signs of doing so. Instead, he took Natalia's simple lie and swallowed it as if it were a chocolate.

"Well, I think I'd be nice if we started spending more time together"

"Sorry?"

"Just that" he gave a toothy smile "Maybe we should hang out more, don't you think? Say… Hogsmeade?"

She still didn't quite understand what on Merlin's name was going on, but she'd feel quite stupid asking again for clarification. The dog's head seemed to move from one Slytherin to the other, trying to capture all sort of reactions.

"Hogsmeade?"

"Yes" if her dumb attitude was bothering him, his smile didn't let it show "You do like Hogsmeade, right?"

"Err, yes, of course…"

"Great then" he smiled brightly, patting both his legs as he stood up "I'll see you tomorrow then. We can decide where we go once we're there"

And just like that, he took off, leaving a very much confused blonde. When Natalia looked down, in order to talk to Goldie about what had just happened – because talking to animals was way better than talking to humans when wanting to understand things, she discovered the big dog was also gone. Looking both sides only to make sure she was in fact alone, she let out a loud sigh and pronounced words she had only heard a few times from the boys when playing Quidditch and that her mother would probably tell her off for using:

" _Merlin's pants!"_

"So you're completely sure he said that? "

"Yes, for the tenth time, Jane, he said that"

"Sorry, it's just that… err… he's just so quiet all the time"

No, he wasn't quiet; the boy was on bloody choir. What Jane meant, not wanting to hurt Natalia, was that Alastar Travers was quiet _towards_ Natalia. Either way, the short girl let it slid, having enough on her mind to create an argument with her best friend on top of that. What bothered her the most about the whole thing, was the fact that she was unsure if the way she was feeling was the way she was ought to. For years she had longed for something like that to happen, thinking one day Travers would wake up and realize she's the kind of witch meant for him and would take her out on a dream date and then start dating – had such a thing taken place at the beginning of the school year, she'd be jumping on one foot and singing silly love songs, but as much as she tried she couldn't get herself to feel like that.

She wasn't completely oblivious as for the reason why. Of course Black had somehow something to do with that. It was only natural, she supposed, that the fact that she had been getting attention from him had made her stop craving the attention of Alastar, but she was hoping that after the last turn of events that involved McKinnon she'd have forgotten about the Gryffindor already. Well, she guessed it was only a matter of going to the date and not talking to Sirius again for her to successfully forget completely about him in a few days.

Another thing that was bothering her was the fact that it had indeed been quite of acting for Alastar. Knowing she wasn't exactly the most popular witch at her house (the reason why that was still a mystery for her) she feared this may be yet another cruel joke at her expense. She doubted Alastar would be capable of such a thing, but with influences like Constance Allingway anything could happen. Still, not only she was a respectable witch from a good family, but her brother was very well built and captain of the Quidditch team of which Alastar was a member of, so she supposed he wouldn't be that dumb to actually try making a fool of her.

Jane wasn't of much help. During any other moment of her life, she'd have confided the witch with any kind of information, after all, best friends didn't keep secrets from each other but the fact that she was now on a fake relationship with Potter, who happened to be Black's best friend, made everything a bit too complicated. Besides, what was the point of telling Jane now that whatever Black and she may've had going on was over? Exactly, would only get Natalia into a scold for not telling the other witch sooner about the whole deal; besides, she'd only look like a hypocrite, all those years telling Jane she could do better than a mudblood friendly Gryffindor and then snogging one? Not the look she was going for.

She was guessing that dinnertime would help her feel more excited about her date; maybe she and Alastar would look at each other at the same time and lock eyes and she'd feel those butterflies inside but at dinner the only interaction she and Alastar Travers had was when he asked her to pass the potatoes.

Whoever, there was an eye lock, blushed cheeks and something that felt like butterflies but not quite, more like a lightning on her stomach, and that all happened the minute she looked over her table and found Sirius Black's eyes on her. After moving her gaze, because she still was very angry at him, and then looking back at the lions table to discover he was still staring. This time she did not look away, and good thing she didn't, if not, she wouldn't have noticed how he gestured with his head towards the big doors, for her to go outside the great hall. She wasn't exactly sure that's what she wanted to do, but after watching him stand up and leave the room, she couldn't help but feel compelled to do the same, she'd attribute all that to curiosity.

"Where are you going?" her brother said, cutting off a conversation he was having with Parkinson the minute he saw her stand up. Those last couple of weeks he had been behaving more like a babysitter than usual.

"My chambers. I'm not feeling very well" she explained with a tight smile, trying to ignore her annoyance. Perhaps, hadn't she had her head filled with so many issues of her own, she'd have found Simon's concern sweet and would've teased him about it.

"Want me to walk you to Madam Pomfray?" Jane suddenly joined the conversation, a look of concern on her eyes.

"No, that' be alright, Jane. You stay and enjoy dinner. I'll just go lay down" once again, she offered her the same kind of smile she had given her twin.

The other witch seemed confused by that statement, any other day had something like that happened Natalia wouldn't have even given her the option to stay for dinner if she needed to go somewhere, but she didn't push it.

As Natalia started to walk away, hoping no one else from her house would like to suggest anything, she threw a look at Travers. Maybe that was it. If Alastar looked up and showed the same type of concern Simon and Jane previously had, she'd stay and leave Black to do his own thing, Merlin knew she'd save herself heaps of drama if she opted to do so; besides, she was indeed supposed to go on a date with Alastar, so that'd be the right thing to do. What kind of which made plans for dates with a guy and then sneaked from dinner to meet another? Yes, all it would take for her to stay was for Travers do even gesture a nod her way, if he did that she'd go to her dorms and occupy her time figuring what clothes she'd wear the next day.

Well, Alastar Travers was too busy chatting with Evan Rosier about brooms to even look at her way as she passed in front of them. With a roll of eyes, she decided she could deal with her feelings regarding date the next day; that Friday night she'd focus on whatever it was Sirius Black' deal was because to be quite honest, she was getting tired of boys and how they acted like a certain way one day and a whole different one another.

She didn't have to look around much once she got out of the great hall. There, resting his back lazily against a pillar, looking up to the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his eyes, was Sirius Black. Since her annoyance with Travers didn't minimize on the least the annoyance she felt towards the Gryffindor, she didn't bother on saying anything, instead, she decided clearing her throat would be enough to get his attention.

Indeed it was. When he looked at her he seemed surprised to see her even there. She looked at him demanding an explanation and instead of talking, all he did was gesture for her to follow. She knew exactly where they were going, the only place where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone else – wizard or ghost.

The walk over there was uncomfortable and slow. She was decided not to give in but could feel he wanted to say something. Knowing he was a faster walker than she was he tried not advancing too much and looked over his shoulder every once in a while, trying to make it appear casual, as if he was simply starching his neck; not that he needed to be subtle, since she had her eyes fixed on her nails as if the pink polish was a world cup.

When they got there he had the decency to let her go in first and while during another time she'd have commented on it or at least been pleased by it, now she said nothing and passed him as if he wasn't even there. If Sirius Black had held any doubt that what he had done was wrong before that night, she was managing to clear them out just fine as she confirmed to him that he was the castle' biggest douchebag.

The room looked the same as it always did; the big couch that resembled a little bit too much of that one she had at home; the wooden table that held the jar of water; the multiple candles. She sat down at the sofa as soon as she entered the room, crossing one leg over the other in order to appear more intimidating – she knew girls weren't exactly supposed to cross their legs, her mother had repeated her that countless of times, that was because girls weren't supposed to appear intimidating, but Natalia guessed that could very well be an exception. Her arms were crossed as well, and her face was stone cold, just like her mother's whenever she was pissed at her.

Sirius stood in front of her, studying her. After a few seconds he left out a sigh and began talking.

"So…."

She looks up, her blue eyes hanging on him as she waited for him to finish the sentence. When she realized he was actually finished and only awaiting for her to begin talking she opened her mouth in outrage, soon, that face turned into a smile and the smile into laughter, hysterical. She stands up as she does so, her arms still crossed over her chest, ignoring the look of skepticism the boy in front of her is wearing.

" _'So'_?" she spat out as she walked across the room, that indignation filled wide smile still adorning her face " _'So'_? Is that _all_ you're going to say to me? Let's see if I understand what's going on here, alright? I try helping you and don't even get a thank you from your part and then, instead of apologizing for that, you go and make plans with the castle's biggest harlot to have sex with and don't even have the decency to apologize for that either and now all you're going to say to me is " _So_ "? "she laughs frenetically at the last part "Not very chivalrous of you, may get you kicked out from Gryffindor" by that part she had stopped laughing, instead a cold smirk was now drawn on her features.

He blinks once or twice, trying to take in all her speech. Well… If one put it like that, he did seem like an arse. Not saying anything first had lacked of braveness, he'd admit that. Looking down at his feet for a second he got the courage he needed to say his next words. With a tightened jaw, looking highly uncomfortable – something odd in Black, considering he always seemed to think of himself as the king of the castle and therefor was never out of place during any situation, he said:

"You're right"

As much as she'd have liked to say 'Yes, you're bloody right I'm right" and then smile and demand for him to ask for her forgiveness, she couldn't do it. That was the first time he had ever admitted as of being wrong at anything to her, perhaps, that was his first time admitting so to anyone. She had stopped moving around the room and was instead standing in front of him, the sofa separating one from the other. She was searching for any signs of dishonesty, of mockingly air, but she found none. It didn't look as if he was pleased with admitting it, anyway, but it seemed as if he meant it.

Unsure of what to say now that he had admitted defeat, she gestured for him to continue with the talking. After all, that would be the right thing to do, and as much as he didn't like it, he knew it too, for he began talking right away.

"I should've said thank you when you told me about the ambush"

She raised a brow, gesturing with her head for him to continue.

"And I shouldn't have gone off with Marlene behind your back"

That's when she decided to talk.

"Behind my back? No. You shouldn't have gone off with McKinnon at all. If you're seeing me, no matter how secretive it is, you're only seeing me – unless we agree otherwise, but I don't remember ever agreeing to something like that and for the record, never will. The simple thought of sharing spit with someone else makes me sick. How would you feel if I went around making out with people you can't tolerate?"

Sirius looked at her funny for a bit, kind of amazed at himself by the reaction those words were creating on him. Had she said them a week ago, he'd have laughed at her face, not because he considered the whole argument funny but because he'd have found it ridiculous she'd believe herself with the right of telling him what to do. Now, while not exactly puzzled at the fact someone was actually telling him what not to do, he couldn't bring himself to disagree with her, if anything, finding it close to adorable, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone, not even to himself – boys didn't find stuff adorable, certainly not him.

"Yaxley, you're a person I can't tolerate" and by the way the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards she was able to see he was suppressing a smile, an a suppressed smile meant that he didn't mean to hurt her at all by that statement.

"Oh shut up, you've stopped not tolerating me weeks ago" she said with a casual tone and a roll of eyes, waving her head out of her face and looking away, hoping he wouldn't catch the slight insecure tone hidden behind his words.

He stayed silent for a moment, long enough for her face to harden and her eyes to set on him. She didn't know what she'd do if he contradicted her.

"You're right" his defeated voice claimed.

They both stared at each other without saying much, just looking at each other. That was perhaps one of the most honest conversations they had ever had with each other without alcohol included. They wondered what had changed and when that had happened; when had they made the switch from just barely tolerating each other to whatever they were now? Had something actually changed? Well, it felt like it did and had it not, why on earth would Sirius Black have changed strategies after he learnt about her upcoming date, and why would she not be hanging on her seat after being asked out by her longtime crush?

It was clear they were both thinking of the same thing, and it didn't take long for the blonde's cheeks to go pink, making her break eye contact just slightly, and stare at her feet as she said: "I stopped not toleration you too" when she sensed he was about to become cocky, she quickly added "and then you did that"

He let out a sigh and growled in annoyance, under his breath "and you just can't let things go"

"Not until you apology"

An apology wasn't exactly what she was looking for. Who cared about apologies? What she wanted was for him to promise not to ever do that again but if she had to ask, she didn't want it. She must've wished for it so strongly that she actually got it.

"It's not like I'm gonna do it again"

"You're not?" She raised a brow, finding it hard not to show a gigantic smile that'd make all of her icy cool attitude fade away.

"Nah" he shrugged as he moved and let himself fall on the sofa. Natalia, who was still behind it, walked so she could be facing the boy, trying not to lose sight of his face in case his expressions gave away anything his words didn't "Not because you're making me, I'm not a sissy. It'd be just too difficult" and as he said all that, he struggled to get his box of cigarettes out of his back pocket.

Despite his statements about not doing it because of her, this time the girl didn't stop the triumphant smile from showing on her face. When he looked up and caught sight of it, he pulled a smirk.

"Good" that was all she said, on a relaxed tone, as if all the anger and annoyance from before had been forgotten.

She allowed herself to fall down on the sofa as well, turning her head ninety degrees so she could stare straight into Sirius' face. The wizard in question was focused mainly on turning on one of the fags to then give a deep drag; when that was done, he turned to look at her too, their noses a few inches away from each other. When she was about to open her mouth to say something, he smiled and delivered all the smoke straight to her face

"You're disgusting" and although she did find it unpleasant, she couldn't bring herself to feel annoyed. It had been a long time since they had allowed themselves to be so playful with each other

Instead of making a witty response to that, like he usually would, he leaned against one of the sides of the sofa and let his back rest over the armchair, facing Natalia fully. Taking another drag, he asked "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Opening her mouth to give a quick answer, curious as for why he'd be making that question, she then remembered that she was in fact supposed to be going on a date with another wizard. Guilt soon crept over her; she had completely forgotten about Alastar; how heartless could she be?

He raised a brow from his spot, amused. He wondered what kind of an answer she'd give him. He knew very well what she was supposed to be doing on Saturday; still, he wasn't doing such a foolish thing as explicitly bringing it up.

"Well... I kind of was invited to go to Hogsmeade"

"With whom?" he was casual. Hadn't she been so worried, that'd have raised suspicion on her mind.

"Alastar" she wasn't looking at him when she said that, missing the expression her honesty caused on him "He invited me yesterday. But honestly, I don't' even think I fancy him anymore. So don't worry, I'll even offer to pay for my own butterbeer, so he won't get any ideas" she finished that with a smile.

Sirius' face was completely different by the end of her statement than it had been when she started talking. With both brows raised and slightly leaning forward, he asked "Oh, so you're still going?"

"I guess?... I mean he did invite me. That was nice of him. It'd be rude if I didn't go"

He gave a humorless laugh as he played with the cigarette between his fingers.

"Didn't you just give me a lecture about not seeing other people?"

"Obviously it's not the same thing"

"Enlighten me"

"Well, first of all, I have no interest in shagging Alastar Travers"

"Of course you don't…." he said as he placed the cigarette on the floor, then leaning a bit forward her side, his whole body on the couch. Natalia frowned, unsure of what it was he was doing "why would you want to do that…" he got closer, his upper body was leaning so close to hers that he was close to fall balance; his voice was silky and raspy, at the same time "when you have such a stood as me" and as he said that, he finally allowed his body to fully lean against hers, still being mindful enough to place one hand so he wouldn't fully crush her.

Giving her sloppy neck kisses, she felt her chuckles rise in amount, a noticeable snort breaking through her fit, making him instantly laugh as well, producing more tickles on the girl and hence, sending her on another fit of laughter. After a few minutes, both a bit out of breath, he placed both his hands on her sides, so he could rise above a little.

Her face was a little red on different places, product of the laughter and his own face, and she still had a goofy smile on her face, that surprisingly he didn't feel the need to make fun of – quite the opposite, he thought that perhaps she was the only person who could pull of that sort of expressions. He wondered since when had he started finding her so… appealing. Sure, she had always been pretty but his bias regarding her evil personality had always made her look completely unattractive to him, but now… he really couldn't think of a better looking person; not even Marlene, who he knew was considered by most people to be the prettiest witch at the castle – even by him, a few months ago. After staring at her for what felt like ages compressed on one small second, he focused on her eyes and forming something that was almost a cocky smile, but not quite, he said: "so, changed your mind?"

And although one part of her brain, the one that was still slightly connected to reality, even if by a hair, told her she was ought to explain to Sirius Black that it would not be appropriate to do such a thing after having promised to do so; but that voice was weak, and the other one, the one telling her that whatever she was feeling with Sirius Black right there, she would never feel with Alastar Travers, and that voice wanted to say whatever it was needed to please the curly haired boy on top of her. It didn't take a genius to know which voice she opted to choose.

"I think I may need some help to decide?" she said it with a faux innocent tone, smiling when she saw the twitch on Sirius' lips, which were getting closer and closer to her face.

"As you wish"

She turned her head twice as she walked away, a soft giggle passing through her lips the second time she did so and found him still standing there – she was hoping that just like she couldn't see his face because of the shadowing, he wouldn't be able to see hers either, because she surely was smiling like a fool.

Shoes off, so she wouldn't make a single noise on her way to the dungeons, she felt as if she was barely touching the cold grounds. After a whole week of ignoring and hating his guts, Sirius Black had managed to get on her good looks again and make her feel… well, some things a lady should never talk about out loud. Whatever it was they had together, that night, she had finally been able to admit to herself that she liked and was happy with and she could feel it was the same with him. Before that, she had been so worried perhaps she was acting on a wrong way, bringing possible shame to her name and her family but now, none of that mattered. No one was going to find out, and even if they were to do so, Sirius Black was still a pureblood – Gryffindor or not, his blood was as pure as the next wizard. If she had to guess, she'd say that the reason why that night had changed the way in which she saw their… relationship, was the fact that she felt that he wanted her fully – before that, she could feel him attracted to her, but she could also feel like he wasn't completely sure he wanted to be in that situation; now, it felt as if Sirius Black chose her and whatever it was they had fully because he wanted to and not only because he was horny and she was a good option available

Somehow, she felt as if all her worries had disappeared just that now, just like she felt after eating pudding or any kind of dessert, but better. Well, true, she still had to try not to get caught getting to her common room at 2:30 in the morning and she still had to make up an excuse not to go and that date with Alastar the next day, but all of that appeared to be so unimportant right then.

Hadn't she been feeling so dreamy, perhaps she would've felt those eyes following her from the couch as she made her way into the common room and that would've spoiled all that current state she was then in, but she didn't and alas, her happiness was left undisrupted and as she got into her chambers, she opened up the curtains from her bed she picked up and asleep Matilda, kissing her head as she hummed a song she hadn't remembered in years.

When she was about to fall asleep, she kept replaying all the events of the night over and over on her head and the sides of her cheeks began to hurt from all the smiling. Hugging her pillow tightly – because Matilda had abandoned her side and gone to the end of the bed, she fell asleep with a soft smile adorning her lips.

It certainly was satisfying to know that his choice had given him results he was happy with and not a headache. He had been worried at first, that giving up his tactic of ignoring Natalia after he had found she had been asked out by Travers could lead to more problems than solutions.

It did pass his mind that perhaps he should take that as a sign that whatever they had been doing up until then should simply stay in the past; a sign that they were two very different people who just happened to spent a couple weeks together but that now should return their own paths and to their own people – he should go back to dating different girls on different dates, a carefree and fun type of life he had lived with great pleasure for years, and she would go on that date with that Slytherin and soon mentions of a wedding would be made and then after Hogwarts a ceremony and pureblood babies would come along and Natalia and Sirius would only think of those weeks together once every few years and think not much of it.

But he simply couldn't.

Maybe he would be fine with it for a while, soon, he may even forget all about her but he knew himself, and knew that if he didn't do it he'd spend many years of his life wondering ' _what if'_. He was a Gryffindor, for Merlin's beard! His whole personality was highly linked to making bold choices just because there was a chance something good may come out of it; if he didn't do something to at least try returning things with Natalia to the state they were he'd be acting against his own spirit. If something felt good and something else didn't, then he should try and do something to make one of those things happen and the other one not – that was the way he had lived like his whole life.

After some good two hours of torturing himself trying to decide what to do, he decided to drop the whole ignoring her deal and try something. If that something didn't work, he wouldn't try again and that'd be fine with him because if it wasn't meant to be, it probably was for the better. But it worked.

Did he fancy Natalia Yaxley? No, of course not. He simply thought she was good looking, well, very good looking; found her funny whenever she wasn't saying something purist; she was also kind to animals and some people on very rare occasions and he thought she was perhaps the most interesting witch in the whole castle and had some great times with her but that didn't mean he fancied her. Or did it? Oh Merlin! He fancied Natalia Yaxley. When had he allowed such a thing to happen? Had it been when she had found him on the woods and revealed something else than just coldness to him? Or perhaps it had been hours ago, all of the sudden.

With alarmed eyes and the knowledge he should at least _try_ to get some sleep, he hoped and reassured himself that such a feeling would soon fade away. Well yeah, maybe he fancied her but just as most things, it wasn't going to last.


	19. chapter 19

**Hey everybody! I'm so sorry this took so long, but here are my reasons: first, I was away on Holidays and then I was too busy doing little retouches to all the old chapters. Thank you very much for your lovely reviews: Nana (as usual thanks for leaving a comment) no, I wasn't deleting chapters, I was merely copying and pasting some of them into shorter ones because I felt as a lot of my chapters were far too short, so pretty much all the content is the same but I just changed the titles;.to everyone saying Natalia should make out with another guy so Sirius can taste a spoonful of his own medicine: who knows! It may happen soon; to the guest reviewer who is annoyed at Natalia forgiving Sirius, well, what can I tell you? I don't think girls who forgive cheaters are stupid and not that I'm justiying Sirius actions, but technically, they weren't on a relationship - still, he realized what he did was wrong and she forgave him because she's smart enough to know what's good for her.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this episode and will try to update the next one soon!**

 **Of course I don't own Harry Potter, If I did, I'd be rich.**

 **Please review with your opinion on this so I can upload the next one, it really does help keep me motivated.**

 **Take care of yourselves lovelies!**

 _Tuesday, February 1, 1977_

Music floated through the room, Natalia's upper body twisted from one side to the other, her arms floated up in the air and waved along with the rhythm of the music, her toes barely touching the floor as she spun around the room, her curls loose and flying around her face, but she didn't even mind them – her lips sang along to the lyrics, a few mistakes here and there.

She had just finished dinner and gotten herself there earlier, the record spinning around the reason behind it. She knew Sirius wouldn't be present yet, since as usual, he was getting there just a minutes after curfew, when everyone else was already in bed – In fact, she was glad he wasn't there, because that meant she could enjoy the song without seeing his smug smile, because after all, he had been the one who recommended the album she was currently obsessed with after he turned down her suggestion to play Thitulus Spectram just one more time during Saturday had showed up on Sunday night with a pile of records Natalia had never seen on her life and after being a little reluctant to give them a try, he finally convinced her to do so and ever since then… she hadn't been able to stop herself. Every free minute she had she went to the room of requirement to give that one special record another listen.

She was just taking a spin as the second verse of the song was beginning, when she saw the door open and Sirius pop inside, with the exact smile she was expecting him to have if he were to witness such scene, the ' _told you I was right'_ type of smile. She instinctively stopped for a second, not wanting to amuse him but just one of her favourite parts of the song was about to start and she was on a goofy carefree mood, so she decided not to spoil it.

Stretching her arm as she faced the boy, making sure to lock her eyes with his, she pointed at him as danced closer as she sang: ' _I had to phone someone so I picked on you-u-u-u'_ a big laugh came from his lips, she couldn't help but to smile too, messing up with the words that followed. When she got close enough, she easily wrapped a hand around his shoulder, and letting himself go with a slight roll of eyes, they began moving together as they chuckled every once in a while.

When the song was finished, Natalia Yaxley left herself fall into the couch without much care, completely exhausted and filled with happiness. Sirius, instead, walked over to lower the volume of the music – he had some mocking to do and it wouldn't be completely appreciated if he had David Bowie's voice loudly over his own.

"Seriously? Out of all the albums I showed you, you chose this one?" he frowned, holding the cover on his hand and giving it a quick look, still amused, walking over to sit next to her. He pulled the cigarettes off his pocket "No 'Stones", no 'Zeppelin'?"

"I believe I'm in love with David Bowie" she sighed, completely ignoring him, a dreamy look on her eyes.

Not that she was going to say it out loud just yet, but she had enjoyed the others too – what she had heard of them, anyway. She hadn't finished any of the other records, some of them she hadn't even started, and that was because ' _The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars'_ had completely stolen her attention and she had been playing it on repeat for the past few days. The boy' voice and lyrics were so magical she believed even squibs would be able to appreciate it.

He rolled his eyes, but still a smile could be seen on his lips.

"Yeah, I guess he's pretty cool"

"'Pretty cool'?" Natalia shouted, leaning on her elbow and turning her face to look directly at Sirius who chuckled at the reaction, completely over the top but very typical of her "He's cooler than Thitulus Spectram and any other wrock singer together. Honestly, how could you've kept this as a secret?"

Sirius didn't bother telling her that muggle culture had it, David Bowie was far from being a secret. Apparently, he was quite big over muggle world or so had he learnt from Remus, who was also, an eager Bowie supporter. Of course, the Slytherin girl had no idea of the muggle upbringings of those songs she was singing and dancing along to, had she known that, Sirius would be still listening to the always so mediocre ' _Blibbering Humdlingers'_. Sure, he could've showed her some of his favourite wizarding bands, there were plenty of them that were better than Spectram's and that she wouldn't have minded to listen to, but where was the fun in that?

"Just say thank you, won't you?"

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, playfully.

"He is an American, isn't he?"

"Who?"

"David!" she cried, a huge smile spreading across her face. "He doesn't sound like one. I hope he's not"

Sirius frowned

"Pretty sure he's from Britain"

"Ah" they stood quiet for a few seconds, then she looked at him again, interest sparkling on her eyes "Have you ever gone to one of his shows?" She had never been to any of those types of shows, not appropriate for a lady, her mother always said.

"Nah. Remus is the one who would know when that's happening and he couldn't go anyway"

"Oh, why can't he?"

"Because he's sick"

"Oh. That's sad" she frowned.

She seemed ready to ask another thing, judging by the way she was opening her mouth, Sirius was able to guess she would want to get more information regarding Moony's furry problem, so he quickly stood up, ready to change the topic of conversation, walking towards a medium sized basket that rested on the corner of the room, which judging by the flowery smile coming off it, belonged to the blonde girl.

"So what did Travers say?"

"Huh?" he couldn't see her face, since he was far too busy getting items out the basket and studying them, but he imagined she looked confused.

It had been three days ever since she had told Travers she couldn't go on that Hogsmeade date with him and that was the very first time Sirius was asking about it

"About Hogsmeade"

"Oh, not much. Said we should go soon anyway"

"Thick"

She rolled her eyes, but a tiny smile appeared on her face. Tired of talking to Sirius' back, and guessing he'd soon be asking about all the goods she had bought, she stood up on a jump and walked over, standing right next to him as he held two big candles.

"Care to explain?" he turned his face so he'd be staring at her

"It's so the room will smell nicer. It's lavender, which you should know; it's my favourite smell in the whole world" she smiled as she took one from his hand and with a tip of her wand she turned it on, placing it on the ground.

"And these?"

"Some chocolate. I can't go to sleep without my chocolate and given that we're finishing far too late and It's scary to go clean my teeth by myself I'll start doing it here. You may take some too if you'd like" she said, remembering how he had devoured them last time back at Hagrid's place.

However, he was not listening to her long explanation, eyes fixed on something else.

"Well, this one's interesting"

She smiled triumphantly, dismissing the fact that he had just ignored her while pushing her hair off her shoulder and moving herself a little closer to him.

"I knew you'd like it. I stole it from my brother centuries ago when I was mad at him and kind of forgot I had it, and can't return it now, he'll go bunkers. So I thought we may as well give it a use at some point"

What Sirius was holding was a full bottle of very good quality fire whisky. Orion Black knew of liquor and he always claimed that the brand Sirius was holding right there was the best on in all Scotland – which was of course, the best country from where to get your alcohol. Knowing that it was good fire whisky was a good thing, knowing that it had belonged to Simon Yaxley and that he'd be drinking it all under his nose, that was pure glory.

So they kissed and touched each other under the influence of the best fire whisky galleons can buy and a rock album on repeat. Both noticed something different, but paid it no mind and ignored it, but one thing was for sure, it all felt better; the kisses tasted sweeter and the touches were softer, but both would be rather be dead than caught up admitting, even to themselves.

For Natalia Yaxley, the week went on more than smoothly. On Wednesday they were finally allowed to perform their armontentia potion, and remembering quite well the steps from an old edition of Tween Witchly Magazine from three years ago regarding said potion alongside with Professor Slughorns instructions, and her natural talent for the subject, Natalia made an exemplary vial – so good, that professor Slughorn couldn't help himself and ended up praising it as she went on to submit it for the whole class to hear.

"Listen everybody, _this_ " he said while grabbing the small vial "is exactly what your work should aim to look like. Now, don't discourage yourself if it doesn't exactly have such a distinguish sheen as Miss. Yaxley's, since that's beyond difficult to achieve unless you count with a natural talent to potions as your classmate does" then, turning back to Natalia, who stood smiley and looking all proud, he said "Well dear, there's no question you're your father's daughter, if not more talented" he lowered his voice when adding that last part, chuckling as he did so.

Despite the teasing her brother paid her after that single event, she felt as if everything was working on her side for once. Sirius helped her out during Transfigurations so she was slowly sliding into being an average student; Jane's faux relationship with Potter meant the two made little study dates every now and then, which resulted on her notes upgrading from very good to almost excellent, and Natalia of course saw herself beneficiated from it as well, after all, Jane was her best friend.

On top of all of that, she had already learnt the lyrics to at least half the songs from David Bowie's record.

On Thursday, at Herbology after Potions, just as she was opening her bag to pull out her books, she found something she recognized quite quickly: a box of chocolates. Being a lover of anything sweet and having such a loving father and endearing brother like the ones she had, she was used to having boxes of chocolate laying all over her chambers, but she was pretty sure that bright yellow box wasn't on her belongings previous to that morning; to confirm that, there was also a card, an unfamiliar handwriting, and only one word: her name.

Smiling to herself despite the mystery, and looking around just to make sure whoever sent that box wasn't around, she wondered about who in the castle would do such a thing, and that question persisted during the rest of the day.

Although initially a discarded option, for she knew he had the emotions of a rock and the handwriting did not match,It seemed as if Sirius was the only wizard who may had have actual reasons to do such a thing, after all, he may've been trying to pay her back for the whisky from the other day. She went over pretty much every other wizard she could think of and soon discarded them – not that there should be any reasons for them not to give her something, for Merlin knew if there was a witch in the castle who deserved praise it was her.

Alastar Travels was soon disregarded, for he had the flu and been missing lessons, hence wouldn't have been able to put those chocolates inside her bag; Hippolytus was nothing more than a friend; Nott and the other wizards barely even talked to her; Rosier wouldn't have the taste to send something and not blast about it being him who sent it; and lastly her brother, who seemed like a very possible option since he may've been trying to congratulate her for her recent excelling academicals work, but although the handwriting was somehow not that different to that of Simon's, the fact that the chocolates contained cantaloupe made her realize it wasn't him – she was, after all, allergic to said fruit.

Really a shame, for those seemed to be fine chocolates, but there was nothing she could do about it unless she wanted to end up looking like a toad. However, although strange coming from him, she though it was a rather sweet gesture from Sirius and couldn't help but to feel her cheeks raise up in heat and colour all while her stomach felt the weirdest sensations.

Keeping I a secret for obvious reasons, although the need of telling everyone that a wizard had left her chocolates and a note was urging, Natalia waited until the usual time that night to bring it up again; swiftly, for she knew Black wouldn't appreciate it any other way.

She tried not thinking too much about whatever it could mean that he was starting to give her presents, but it was impossible. She was a dreamer and Sirius was a handsome wizard and she got to kiss him pretty much every night, so Merlin was it understandable for her to start thinking perhaps, only perhaps, he felt something more than what he showed for her. Although not the perfect catch, for he was a Gryffindor and friends with almost every single mudblood in the castle, there was still hope for Sirius Black and if he were to fall for her, well, it meant that he was willing to change at least _some_ of his habits for her.

It was a great disappointment for her when after placing the chocolates on the table and smiling at him, waiting for him to say something about it, all his words were: "Again? Honestly, how much chocolate do you eat on a week? It can't be healthy."

"What?"

He sighted "Nothing, you can eat whatever you want. Don't turn this into an argument"

"What?! No. So you didn't put these on my bag?"

He frowned "Why would I put them in your bag?"

Natalia groaned in annoyance, putting on a frown and crossing her arms around her chest. Unlike what Sirius thought it would happen, Natalia didn't throw a tantrum; instead she walked over to the corner of the room, waved her hair off her shoulder and purred: "I must have a secret admirer then"

"Travels?" he asked.

"Who knows" she dismissed the subject quickly with a shudder.

The evening was ruined for both of them that after that, but unlike during most of their arguments and disagreements, none stormed out of the room or lost their temperament, they simply sat on the couch and did their own things, only talking when necessary.

Natalia was boiling mad, not at him but at herself. Thinking Sirius Black would give her chocolates and play the fool in front of him seriously damaged her ego for the night. And to think she was going to show her breast to him! Well, he had been meaning for her to take her blouse out since forever, always trying to unbutton a few of the top bottoms or move a little of fabric, but she had refused the first five times and he had gotten the message not to try again – now, deciding that the fact he was sending her something so sweet as chocolates and somehow accepting the fact that she may like him as something more than just a person with whom she kissed with, she thought he deserved to see her without her top and that she was ready to show it; well, he could keep waiting for another millennium now.

Sirius, on the other hand, became frustrated. How on Merlin's beard was it his fault that someone else had sent her sweets? Damn that person, whoever it is, because if those chocolates hadn't been sent nothing would've happened and he wouldn't be sitting in silence with an angry Natalia Yaxley with nothing to do. However, moments such as that one (when she's acting like a brat, that is) are to be appreciated, because it reminds him of why he _shouldn't_ like her for any other reason but that of her body and face, and yes, skills.

Everything was called off a half an hour after that, each gathering wands and papers in silence. When everything they had brought with themselves was already packed and only the chocolate box remained on the table, both wizards looked at each other.

"You can take this" she said, grabbing it with displeasure and tossing it at him almost immediately.

"Won't Travers get angry if he finds out you're giving away his presents?"

Her eyes rolled so hard they almost touched her hairline.

"We don't even know it was Alastar. Besides, I'm allergic to cantaloupe"

Shrugging, Sirius tossed the box on his bag, along with all the Transfigurations papers that weren't used that night.

As usual, just out of familiarity, they walked together in silence, only drifting apart when they had to, a shrug serving them as a form of saying goodbye.

Irritated and annoyed at himself for putting up with such a brat, Sirius tossed the chocolates on the floor.

Friday was definitely an odd day on pretty much everyone's book.

Evan Rosier woke up at an unusually early time and demanded Constance Allingway – who woke up at the same time every morning to enjoy some alone time in the bathroom - to let him into the girls room, a space In which boys rarely ever got the chance to get in – not because they were forbidden by any sort of charms, but because back in their third year a few of the Quidditch members had tried sneaking in without permission, only to end up receiving several curses from Dolores Nott who although lacked of looks, was a great curse caster. Somehow, Rosier managed to convince Allingway to allow him in after promising her the loveliest of dragon leather boots money could afford.

After asking which of the five beds was Natalia's and receiving an arched brow and frown from the other witch, Evan Rosier assured her he meant no harm and would be gone in less than an ten minutes. He was only there to deliver a present for the witch whose affection he craved for; knowing of Evan's longtime fancy on her irritable roommate but without understanding what could possibly a fine and relaxed wizard such as he could see in someone like her, Constance gave him the answer before disappearing through the doorway.

Knowing well enough that neither Dolores Nott or Jane Abbott were known for sleeping past seven in the morning, Evan Rosier hurried, opening the windows and kneeling down to be on the same level as her face, allowing himself just a moment to appreciate her on her sleep. That wasn't the first time he observed her while asleep, for he had managed to find a way to achieve that at the common room a few times and at the express, twice – still, this was the first time he was allowed to do it in such close proximity. He could even feel her warm and sweet breath crashing against his face, making him long for more, closing his eyes just to concentrate on her breath alone. Deciding to be smart and stop misusing his time, he proceeded to do as he had planned.

Natalia felt a hand shaking her shoulder almost desperately all while hearing her name being called by a deep whispering voice. Being woken up in such a way was strange enough, and it only got weirder the second she opened her eyes. To say she freaked out when she realized who was touching her and only a few centimeters away from her face was disgusting Evan Rosier would be an understatement.

A scream was the first thing she was able to perform, along with some kicking and punching through the covers, but the bastard reacted quick and her high pitched voice was only just released when his sweaty, disgusting hand was over her mouth as his head waved from side to side, making sure no one had woken up from the sound. He kept on looking at her, as if waiting for something to happen. Millions of thought went through Natalia's head and she damned herself for not keeping her wand at hand. He kept looking at her in the eye with intensity and a small smile was starting to form on his face, and just as she feared the worse, her greatest savior came to her rescue.

Evan Rosier let out a cry and removed his hand from Natalia's face to explore the soon to be bleeding scratch Matilda had just performed. Deciding not to be a cry baby for the first time in his life while hissing, he ignored the pain on his hand as well as he could and shifted his eyes back to Natalia and the bastard had the nerve to look surprised when he saw her terrified and disgusted face move away from him, her arms getting over to her nightstand to get a hold of her wand.

"Get out of here" she muttered dangerously, each bit of word holding a small doze of poison with it.

"But-

"Get away from me before I curse the bloody hell out of you"

To her displeasure, and also surprise – because she may not have been Dolores Nott, but she knew he was aware very well that her curses were just as good as everyone else's – Evan Rosier stood motionless, a stupid look on his face.

What came out of his mouth was something Natalia wouldn't have expected "Did you eat the chocolates?" it was a hopeful whisper, pathetic enough for everything to make sense for her.

Ignoring her so growing urge to yell and spit and curse at him, she managed to compose herself knowing well enough that those chocolates weren't merely chocolates and that those weren't on her possession anymore and that she had to warn Sirius about it as soon as she could. Who knew what that creep had put on them. On perhaps the coldest of voices, she said to him: "I'll give you three bloody seconds to get your arse out of my chambers. If you don't I won't only alert my brother and every single teacher on this school but I'll also get aurors involved and you know well enough whatever you put into those chocolates isn't law permitted"

She made it to three before that pathetic rat ran off in fear.

With no time to lose and deciding to postpone the creative process that'd come with creating some sort of revenge that could fit the crime, Natalia put on her slippers and yanked her bathrobe from the top of her trunk – she guessed by the closed windows on Jane's bed that it was still early and she prayed so, because were anyone to see her wandering the castle in her sleep clothes and her morning hair but the situation called for it.

Among all possible potions those chocolates might've contained, she wasn't stupid and guessed it was very likely those had Amortentia or something of the sort in them. She knew Sirius didn't like eating sweets right before bed – he always ate them at least a few hours before it was time to sleep, so chances were he was going to eat them through the day, so she still had time – possibly. The possibility of Sirius believing to be in love with Evan Rosier all because of those chocolates implied that their secret relationship could be easily exposed: for once, Sirius could tell the git, and how would she explain the fact that Sirius Black ended up eating _her_ chocolates?

She walked as fast as she was able to, avoiding sight of any other human in the castle, running from time to time and lowering her speed down to recover her breath. Although the late January temperature was slow, Natalia's whole face was boiling. As she ran, she came up with what it seemed to her as a believable plan to get Sirius out of the tower without raising any suspicion: she was simply going to lie and say his brother was having one of 'his attacks' which of course didn't exist, but for the sake of her lie, Regulus Black had spontaneous attacks that no one but people in his family knew how to control, hence why she was getting Sirius Black so early in the morning.

Her plan had flaws, many of them, but of course she couldn't see them in the desperation of the moment: for instance, how would she explain that this was the first time Regulus was having one of those famous attacks?

Indeed, Natalia Yaxley found herself in luck when she wasn't even required to perform such unbelievable lie, seeing as James Potter was just walking on the same corridor in which corner she had just turned. He was carrying a broom over his shoulders and looking down. That was perhaps the first time she had genuinely smiled while catching sight of James Potter.

"James!" she cried in joy, suddenly forgetting her sour mood from earlier. Lying to one person, and one she somehow knew at that, was a lot easier than doing so to multiple weary lions.

James little sleepy and confused face didn't know what struck him.

The minute his eyes laid on that angelic, majestic, perfect face, the world around him stopped, and suddenly all he cared about was this person, the most gorgeous creature he had ever dare laid eyes on. How could he have never noticed before? The love of his life had a name and a surname, and he believed was Natalia Yaxley.

Although James's face glowed in newfound enlighten In such a way it would've been difficult to ignore by any breathing creature, Natalia was so relieved that at least one part of her day had worked on her favour that she didn't care to pay attention to it. Instead, playing a friendly role in order to get what she wanted, she made use of his first name and approached him with the same smile she wore the minute she found him.

"I need your help and discretion and since-

"Of course!" he interrupted eagerly. All he wanted to do was to prove his devotion to her and although such overly excited attitude confused her for a second, her worry made its way back as starring role in her mind, making her ignore such things as James Potter's unusual morning temperament.

"Alright, you're a dear. I need you to go andget Sirius –

"Why would you want to see Sirius?" his voice came wary, angry even. Of course Natalia thought it was only because he maybe thought she'd want to do something to Sirius, after all, people rarely ever saw them getting along.

"His brother is quite sick and we can't remember what sort of potion he drinks. So we were hoping Sirius could help us. That's why they sent me from my house."

He nodded, still looking unsure about the whole thing and making Natalia worry that perhaps that wasn't the best excuse she could come up with. Just as she was about to add something else, he spoke again: "Would that make you happy?"

That question made Natalia frown, picking up not only on how strange that sort of question was for the situation being, especially coming from him towards her, and also noticing his tone: anxious, desperate and above all, pretty sincere.

"Uhm… yes, It would…"

"Alright. Maybe we can spend some time together after? I've got something to tell you"

"What?" _Had he found out about her and Sirius?_

"I'd tell you know…" he smiled sheepishly and looking at his feet, adjusting his glasses by the bridge of his nose "but I'd be nicer outside. By the gounds!. Yes, after we find Sirius and leave him to his brother we can go there"

The glee on his voice was overbearing and Natalia suddently abandoned her previous assumption and thought of something worse; something that technically shouldn't be possible; something that could only happen if things had gone even worse than she had feared; something that somehow seemeda bit possible, if one thought of what an atrocious brewer Evan Rosier was.

Sighing and praying Merlin for her suspicions to be mistaken, she placed a hand over James Potter's fit forearm, watching in fear as how that small action on her part that before would've provoked at the best of cases some suspicion in the boy, was now something that made his breath stop, that made him nervous, and worse of all, that made him smile softly.

Natalia's face twitched in a mixture between disgust and fear, as she said: "Are you feeling alright James?"

It was certainly nerve-wracking to see how his mouth went wider than his face and how he placed his hand on top of hers. It really took a lot of effort from her part not to take him "Better than I ever had"

And then, as she was about to suggest going to Madam Pomfrey to check him up – because honestly, she didn't care so much about keeping the whole thing secretly anymore, Merlin, she'd even take the fault of brewing the potion and giving it to James Potter by mistake if that meant she wouldn't have muggle lover James Potter singing love poems to her for the rest of her classmates to watch – he took hold of her hand, and after saying 'come', dragged her to his common room.

There wasn't much she could do to stop James Potter after that. He was a very large boy, much taller and wider than Sirius's frame, let alone Natalia's; and he appeared to be very much intoxicated with the idea of telling her something as soon as they got to Sirius, so of course he wouldn't listen to her whining, or even feel her pull his hand for them to stop.

When they reached the tower, he turned to her and looked at her with that sort of dazzled eyes that a witch spent years waiting to see on her object of interest. Natalia thought it was rather unfair how the first person who would ever show her that sort of look happened to be James Potter, a soon to be blood traitor, her best friend's object of interest and her own object of interest's best friend.

"Wait here" he said, with that adoring voice.

He turned to provide for the password, and ignoring the Fat Lady's frown when she saw the pair, Natalia swallowed the disgust she felt for the words she was about to say, but knew she had to make sure Sirius got down as soon as possible, for the problem was big.

"James, wait!" she said, once again taking hold of his upper arm, chest to chest. He lowered his head "Please, do hurry. Get Sirius and get down immediately. The sooner you two get down, the sooner we can go talk" and she said that so sweetly, and with such a smile on her face, even if James Potter hadn't been under the effects of a love potion, he'd have fall for the lie.

The Fat Lady tried starting conversation after he left. Natalia just wasn't on the mood.

Despite knowing James Potter was a very athletic long legged boy and hence, pretty fast, especially with the right incentive, she was still surprised when she saw the portrait opening less than five minutes later with a very excited looking Potter and a bed haired Sirius Black. Even at that moment, with a thousand problems over her shoulder, Natalia had to admit that Sirius Black was hot.

"Good" she heard herself said, and she meant that. She wanted to get this problem fixed as soon as wizardingly possible.

"Yaxley? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, his brows almost reaching his hairline and suddenly losing all trace of sleepiness left from his face.

"What? He hasn't told you anything?"

She was really surprised. Not that she was expecting that love induced James Potter would remember to say much about her cover up story about Regulus Black, but she was at least expecting he'd mention something about her, given that he was so helplessly in love with her. It seemed as if he took her words seriously enough not to waste time.

"He only said I should get down immediately. I assumed it was important" they were both looking at James, who was in turn, looking at Natalia. "Care to explain to me what's going on"

"Yes-

"I'll do it" James Potter interfered, a giant smile adorning his face once more, his fingers closing up around Natalia's small wrist, causing the other two purebloods to look down at it with strangeness and then up to James Potter mad face "Sirius, you're my best friend. That's why I think is important that you know"

"Know what?"

"I have found love" and then, he dropped down to the ground on his knees, and turning to Natalia while taking hold of both her hands despite the struggle the witch was providing, he said "My beautiful Natalia, I was going to wait and do my confession at a much nicer place. But what better place than in the presence of my best friend, my brother. I love you"

Natalia's face was crimson red, while Sirius was so confused he wasn't even to express emotions. Perhaps he was still dreaming. Was he dreaming? No he wasn't.

Ignoring James Potter completely, with her hands still wrapped around his, Natalia turned her face to Sirius Black: "Did you give him the chocolates?"

Things had gone line this: the previous night, Sirius had gotten to his room utterly annoyed by Natalia's attitude and of course he wasn't about to eat chocolates that had belonged to her, so she tossed them into James' bed because he knew cantaloupe was one of his favourite fruits (also, he wasn't about to eat something that Travels had bought with the intension of giving it to Natalia, but he left that out from the explanation he gave the blonde on the morning of Friday).James tended to wake up pretty early on Fridays to have a few flies around the field before Quidditch practice began and had seen the chocolates; since he's always hungry and breakfast wouldn't be ready for at least another 3 hours, and because he _really_ loved cantaloupe, he had maybe more than a few.

Natalia did her part explaining her side of the morning's events, including the creepy visit Evan Rosier paid her.

They both fell in the conclusion that Rosier must've thought he had brewed a Carigno Potion, perhaps the weakest and most unstable subtype of a love potion which required some hair from the person whose love interest one wanted and also, that the in order to fall in love with you, you had to be the first person who the victim saw after drinking the potion. There were many reasons why said potion was the least popular in the wizarding world: first, you couldn't really guarantee that you'd be the first person this witch or wizard you wanted would look at; secondly, the effect was weak and only lasted for that of 24 hours; thirdly, it was so intense that it wore whoever took it out from exhaustion quite quickly.

They were at the requesting room, discussing a way to fix James up before said 24 hours without raising any suspicion from anyone else. The wizard in question had left towards the library after Natalia asked him to go and write her a list of reasons why he adored her, and also, while he was at it, to write her Charms paper – Sirius hadn't agreed with that, but since James agreed immediately and wouldn't listen to anyone else but Natalia, he had left to do it. It was a great plan, since the library was a place in which James had to mandatorily be quiet unless he wanted to get kicked out – and he wouldn't want that unless he had finished with what Natalia requested of him. The only problem to get him there had seemed to be Quidditch practice, but Natalia fixed it up quickly.

"Well, if you care about me, you'll cancel practice today and go do these darling things for me" that was all it took, and Sirius was suddenly in charge of telling his team mates that there would be no practice that morning.

Given that they didn't really study the type of potion Rosier had used, Natalia and Sirius were clueless regarding what sort of antidote they should try, so they had been stuck reading multiple books they had gotten from when they dropped James off at the library.

Without much luck, still on their night clothes and only twenty minutes before breakfast was ready, Sirius sighed.

"I guess we'll just have to keep him controlled for the rest of the day"

"Well, that's impossible. You do recall he sang about my hair being the most beautiful thing on earth on our way to the library, right?" then, she performed a tiny smile "Of course he isn't wrong, and it's sort of flattering to have someone singing those things"

Sirius rolled his eyes, but instead of telling her off or mocking her as he usually would've. He stiffened, looked down and his expression changed.

"We have to do something about Rosier"

She nodded, her smile also worn off by the mention of that wizard, memories of earlier that morning returning to her mind and tinting her cheeks with pink.

"I hate him"

"That makes two of us"

And when Natalia looked up, she saw that he was looking at her too. They started at each other in silence and a silent confession was made: this wasn't just about honor and what was right and what was wrong; sure, Rosier brewing a love potion to give to any unwilling witch was beyond abhorrent, but in that moment, looking at each other, Sirius told Natalia that it was even worse because it had been done to her, and he cared about her. She offered him a tiny smile and he nodded, not a word mentioned about it. Whatever they'd do to Rosier – and Merlin knew they'd do something, they'd decide later.

Regarding James Potter, they were praying to Morgana for a miracle.

Deciding they should both go and get ready not to raise any further suspicion, Natalia Yaxley and Sirius Black parted ways. He was in charge of getting James back from the library and try making him keep a low profile, while she'd have to come up with a very good excuse to Jane and perhaps her brother, regarding why she was just entering the common room in her pajamas at 8:20 in the morning.

Apparently her luck was starting to return, for her brother was nowhere to be found and the only person to whom she had to explain herself to, was Jane, who after finding her best friend's bed unmade and windows wide open at that of seven in the morning and after looking for her in the restrooms and common room had grown worried.

"You're finally here!" she cried, standing up and making Matilda – who had been enjoying of the permission to be on the witch's lap – jump off "Where on Merlin's beard were you?"

Frowning and laughing it off, Natalia said: "I was at owlery, if you must know. Wanted to be there to see if Sebastian's present arrived earlier; so no one would take it. You know, with all these mudbloods around one can never be sure about precious belongings"

" _Oh_ "

That seemed to be a good enough of a lie to Jane, or so Natalia hoped as she picked up her uniform to dress herself up, trying not to show her face to the taller witch, for Merlin knew she was a terrible liar and the moment she saw her face she'd know it was all a cover up.

"Did it arrive?"

"Huh?"

"Your brother's package"

"Ah! No, it didn't. Perhaps he forgot, silly thing"

Jane arched a brow, for it indeed seemed odd that after spending more than two hours In the owlery, early on a Friday morning, only to get nothing, Natalia Yaxley would be taking the matter so lightly instead of complaining restlessly about it – what also was very odd, was the fact that Natalia had left the common room in such state. Still, she decided not to mention it, not wanting to create an argument before breakfast.

Breakfast came and luckily enough, no one noticed how tense Natalia Yaxley became after James Potter waved at her spot enthusiastically from over the Gryffindor table, only to have Sirius Black put his hand down quickly after. It was indeed convenient that the fact that he was starting to date Jane Abbott made it seem as if he was waving at the later.

At least one good thing from that morning was that Evan Rosier had decided not to show his face up for breakfast.

Despite Sirius warning not to talk to or about Natalia, James still approached her desk during history of magic, wearing the biggest grin and with a single flower that looked an awful lot like the ones that were on the great hall. Looking up to catch sight of Sirius and tell him to come, Natalia stood up immediately in order to stop James from opening his mouth.

"Oh! You got flowers for Jane. How charming!"

"No, actually-

"James you shouldn't have!" Jane's little rosy red charmed face said, standing up and picking up the flowers which the boy still refused to let go of.

"Here let me smell them" Natalia said, yanking them from the wizards' hand without much trouble. "Lucky witch!" she giggled with nervousness, sighing when she saw Sirius Black approaching as well.

"Prongs, come on. Lets go"

And taking grip of James shoulder, Sirius took him away before he could say anything but "Goodbye Natalia!"

Handing the flowers to a very bewitched Jane, Natalia sat down with tiredness. Today was going to be a long day.

Second period wasn't a problem since Gryffindors and Slytherins didn't share a class, and because Sirius did his best to keep the boy quiet about his so called 'love of his life, most beautiful and charming witch there is, Natalia' To be honest, hadn't it been James under the effects of a love potion, Sirius would've been close to being jealous.

It wasn't until Transfigurations approached, a moment when none Sirius or Natalia could keep James from shutting up his mouth, when problems really began. It seemed to both of them pretty obvious they couldn't let James alone to tell Jane or who knows who else about anything, so one of them should pretend to be sick and take the rest of the day off, taking care of James at one of the abandoned classrooms.

Problem was that if Natalia missed the rest of the day's classes, she'd have her brother demanding for questions and if Sirius did it, while James also gone off for the day, every single teacher would assume they were just skipping to do some mischief.

Help came in the form of a sixth year Slytherin boy: Hippolytus Lestrange.

They were just entering the Great Hall for lunch, Transfigurations coming nearer and Sirius and Natalia still had no idea what to do. She probably looked kilometers away as she sat down, losing Jane's attention quickly and making the taller witch engage in conversation with Rue Rowle - naturally it made Hippolytus curious.

"Care to explain to me why Jane was looking for you at six in the morning?"

Jane had to stop that habit of asking people around about her whereabouts.

Noticing her uncomfort and the way her eyes flew over to where her brother sat – luckily too absorbed on a conversation with two seventh years members of the Quidditch team to notice her conversation – Lestrange added: "No, I haven't told your brother. But may I say, you should be more careful"

"What do you mean?" she asked on a very thin voice, serving some potato salad to her plate and pretending as if she had no reasons to be accused of anything.

"I mean that you're sloppy and that you're lucky your brother is too busy to notice"

Natalia's whole body stiffened. There was no way Hippolytus would say all those things just based on assumptions he may have made regarding her absence this morning. He had to know something else.

Getting over her displeasure a putting on one charming smile, she said loudly enough for her brother and Jane to hear: "I think I forgot my quill at DADA! So silly of me. Would you mind coming with me get it back, Polytus?"

With a sigh and a sheepish smile – because he knew what she was trying to do – he dropped his napkin on the table and waited for her to start walking so he could do the same, hands behind his back.

They hadn't even made it outside before he spoke up again: "So you're finally going to confide someone else your secret"

"Who says there's a secret?"

"The fact that you have been leaving you chambers way after curfew pretty much every single night for the past month and a half"

Natalia looked down and thought of what to say. There was obviously no point denying it, for it seemed as if he had seen her sneaking away far too many times for a lie to cover up the whole thing. Instead, although she sort of assumed what the answer would be, she asked: "Have you told my brother?"

"Of course not" the boy laughed "I think you would've heard from him by now if he knew all the sort of things Black and you have been doing"

Then she tensed again. She hadn't been sure of how much exactly Hippolytus knew about her situation, but she wasn't expecting _that_ much.

"Are you going to?"

There was a moment of tense silence in which she didn't even dare looking at him. She could almost hear him saying 'Yes, I'm clearly going to tell him' or what seemed even worse, and she knew to feel it was worse was plain stupid: 'No, I won't. But you'll have to stop this'

Instead, he said: "No, but you have to be more careful. I don't even think I have to list you the reasons why"

And in that moment, she felt as if she could hug him, so she did. Unused to physical contact with pretty much anyone, Hippolytus' body stiffened at the beginning, but soon grew accustomed to the touch, even patting her back.

Then, pulling away from the hug, she smiled: "Well, since you already know, I will need your help with something"

And that's how Hippolytus Lestrange ended up spending the rest of his Friday locked up in an old classroom with no one else but an enamored James Potter, who could not shut up about his worship of Natalia Yaxley – something that would've annoyed the Slytherin far more hadn't he been used to it by being friends with the witch herself, who worshiped herself far more than any wizard (including love induced James Potter). Besides, he knew about the Gryffindor's obsession with that Evans witch, the mudblood, and he would take blabbering of Natalia any day before hearing about Evans.

Babysitting the Quidditch captain wasn't easy, especially when he'd come up with theories that the Slytherin was trying to keep him and Natalia apart so he could keep the witch to himself – Hippolytus had to admit, that was pretty funny and he was planning on telling that to the witch in question after, so they could both laugh about it. When he finally passed out around five, Hippolytus let out a sigh full of relief, leaving the room to let Natalia know, who in turn told Sirius.

So now, as Hippolytus laid in bed pretending to be suffering from the most terrible of headaches not to raise any suspicion from any of his classmates, Natalia and Sirius observed James Potter have the most peaceful sleep while they had suffered perhaps one of the most stressing days of their lives.

"You'll have to tell him now"

"Another person. How ideal" was Sirius humorless response, making the witch roll her eyes in annoyance.

"It's not as if I'm thrilled with the idea. If it bothers you so much we can just finish this off and you can tell him everything on a past tense"

This time it was Sirius the one to roll his eyes.

"Stop saying rubbish"

That made Natalia crook her neck In order to look at him, daring for him to say anything else to upset her. Luckily for him, all else that came from his mouth was a sigh.

"I will tell him tomorrow"

She nodded.

Then, looking to her right where laid both her Charms essay and the list of reasons why she was the most beautiful witch in the world, she said: "I admit, I'll miss having Potter doing everything I asked. Perhaps I should give you a love potion so you'll start acting more like a gentleman when around me"


	20. chapter 20

**_Hello everyone! Yes, finally! I have uploaded a chapter within a week or so from the previous one. I thank you so much by your reviews from the last one and encourage you to keep doing so! things like that are what play a lot into me uploading with more frequency than not._**

 ** _I don't own Harry Potter, duh._**

 ** _Please review or if you have any questions regarding this story or its characters or whatever, please feel more than welcome to share those! I'll do my best to answer you individually._**

 ** _Take care of yourselves_**

* * *

 _Saturday, February 5, 1977_

James Potter threw up when Sirius revealed him that he, _on occasions_ , sneaked out during school nights to make out with Natalia Yaxley and had been doing so for quite a while. Alright, he didn't exactly throw up _because_ of those allegations, but rather because the side effects of that love potion had seriously struck him and his body seemed desperate to get read of every trace it may have left, but both things – the telling and the puking - happened to take place around the same moment.

After throwing his guts out he sort of forgot about what Sirius told him, because he had been in so much discomfort, but the next morning (after a 12 hour night of sleep or so), during breakfast, James asked Sirius if by chance he had made a joke about dating Natalia Yaxley – to that, Sirius had quickly corrected he wasn't dating her and never would " _come on James, how low do you think of me_?" but that they were simply making out and that no, it wasn't a joke.

The reasons why, out of all the witches in and out of Hogwarts there were Sirius, the forever purity elite hating wizard would choose Natalia Yaxley, the prime example of what a pureblood witch should be, look and act like, was difficult to understand, but what seemed even more confusing was the fact that Sirius had waited so long to tell _him_.

"I wasn't exactly proud of it" he shrugged when James questioned him about it. "It's not like she's a normal girl"

"No, that you're right" the boy in the glasses chuckled.

But like it was expected of it, James said not a single word to question it. Yes, he still didn't understand it – sure, Yaxley was somehow of attractive, if she was your type, but having to put up with her shrinking and demanding personality? Seriously, his hand was still sore from all the poems and papers she got him to write while he was under the effects of that potion. Not to mention the fact that she was actually evil, or at least close to being so, and the fact that she was a Slytherin proved it.

Well, at least lying to James wasn't a thing Sirius had to worry about any longer. It was not only a difficult task, but it also made him feel somehow guilty. Plus, now that James knew all about what had happened with the love potion, he was more than willing to pull perhaps one of their darkest pranks on Evan Rosier – if not for Natalia Yaxley's honor, because he had spent two days throwing up and having cramps all over his stomach, that of course, after making a fool of himself declaring his love for Yaxley.

However, it seemed the whole incident had made Natalia Yaxley more… willing to try new things.

On Wednesday night, when they had been laying on the couch, listening to some music and not even talking – since they had done too much of that for a night already, she had simply gotten up and slowly sat on Sirius's lap, surprising him insensibly; then, as if that wasn't enough, when he placed his palm over her warm cheek, to start kissing her, she had simply crooked her head and while looking at him in the eye, dragged his thumb into her mouth and _sucked_ on it.

Sirius swore he could feel his own heartbeat, his mouth slightly open, and after getting over the initial surprise, he smiled like a kid on Christmas morning.

On Monday, she pulled out her magazine and instead of curling up on the corner of the sofa, as she usually would, she sat with her legs stretched, and placed her feet over Sirius's lap, and not on any innocent way, he was able to tell, no matter how hard she pretended.

It was exactly for all those reasons why the blonde witch had been so angry when on Thursday, after she had hinted a couple times how bored she was, Sirius told her she should probably read a book. To Merlin with anger, Natalia was outraged.

Yes, perhaps she had been doing all those things because she found them… enjoyable and she fancied the boy, but it was mostly to show him some appreciation for the way he had handled things the previous week; he had not only defended and helped her, but he had also, words or not, showed that he cared about her, even if a little bit. Yes, blame It on being a romantic, but she was hoping they could at least do something outside Hogwarts for once. It wasn't as if she was asking for him to walk around in school with her around his arm like the typical couple, no one even had to see them, she was only asking for them to change scenarios.

She even made the effort to literally suggest they'd do something, when he noticed he wasn't going to pick up the hint. She made it sound very cool, with a shrug of shoulders and everything; still, he refused. " _Maybe we should go to Hogsmeade some night_ ". It wasn't as if he never snuck out of the castle during school nights – word had it the so called marauders had discovered many secret passages that lead outside the castle; of course that wasn't confirmed because they refused to admit it or take anyone else with them, but knowing the sort of people they were: considerably smart and with a taste for trouble, it wasn't difficult to believe.

Screw him. She wouldn't have even asked if she hadn't already been turned down by all her friends – and yes, her brother counted as a friend since she didn't really have that many of them to start off with. Jane had plans with Potter. Hippolytus's weird cousins were visiting and meeting him and Simon for talk regarding the Dark Lord. All of that left Natalia – once again – alone, in the castle, bored. The only other person to whom she gave attention was Black, but of course she couldn't hang out with him during the light of day, that's why she had offered doing so at night, but no, the git had refused and now she had no one but Hippolytus Lestrange to complain to, and Hippolytus hated to hear her whine about things – as he had so many times not so kindly told her.

"Had I accepted Alastar's invitation weeks ago I'd have saved myself soooo many problems, you know? Ugh! I'm just so silly! Of course I should've said yes. He's perfect, isn't he no?" she didn't even pretend to wait for the boy's answer "He's handsome, rich and isn't a bloody Gryffindor, and he's never been rude to me. You know how many times you know who has been rude to me? Too many" then she sighed, looking down at her nails "and this nail potion sucks"

Hippolytus turned the page on the book he was currently caught on, and sighed as well. If there was something he regretted greatly, it was letting Natalia know he knew about her secret, since that made him the only person with whom she could talk about, and Natalia _loved_ talking.

"Why don't you make plans with him then?"

"Alastar? Of course not. Don't be silly. I already refused twice, I doubt he'll ever ask again, and it's not as if I can go over and invite him myself"

"You always invite me yourself"

"That's because you're my friend" she dismissed him

"Invite one of your other friends, then"

"I don't have that many friends, you know that. Girls are jealous and hate me. _Ugh_! I can't believe I'm going to spend another complete weekend by myself"

"Then you could go out with James Potter. Last time I saw him he seemed pretty keen on you" the dark haired boy laughed, thinking himself hilarious and gaining a dark look from the girl in front of him.

However, a joke or not, it reminded her of something.

With a smile, she stood up and said: "I'll be right back"

Hippolytus' face was priceless.

"Wait, I was actually joking! Don't-

She didn't hear the end of that sentence, already walking out and heading outside her common room. Where she was going, she had no idea. It was Thursday noon and most had just gotten themselves out of class – Jane being the exception, for she had an extra hour of Runes studies – but she knew who she wanted to see.

After approximately twenty minutes of looking, she found the boy in question in really, the first place she should've looked for considering who he was friends with; outside, where it was as cold as it could get, working on a pile of snowballs they seemed to be levitating into a burlap bag. One could barely see their faces, for they were pretty much covered from heads to toes on winter clothes, especially the little guy who Natalia had some trouble remembering the name of; the only one who didn't seem to care much about the cold, or pretend to, seemed to be Sirius, who was only wearing a blue scarf and that leather jacket of his. She rolled her eyes at that; he was risking getting a cold walking around like that while laying on the snow.

Either way, she ignored it, for she wasn't there for him.

"Hey!" she yelled, instead, waving at him from her spot a few meters away. All you could see of her was some hair, red cheeks from the cold, and her eyes.

Four pair of hairs turned at the sound, and unsurprisingly, Remus was the only one to properly greet her, standing up and waving at her too. Soon, the little guy joined him, but his wave was sloppy and it looked like he was asking for help after a blizzard. Potter and Sirius didn't move a finger, although she managed not to pay attention to that.

Walking closer to where they stood, she was able to catch on Black's so undistinguished frown and saw that he was about to jump into silly conclusions – his friend, Potter, only comfirming it by the way he was looking at Sirius as if to find an explanation of why she was there. _Ha, as if her world revolved around Sirius Black; no sir, it didn't._

"What-

" _Remus_!" she greeted, a smile breaking on her face from the satisfaction of having just interrupted whatever rude question Black was coming up with "I'm so glad I found you. Been looking everywhere for you!"

" _You have_?" the sandy haired boy raised a brow.

"Of course!" she smiled, not understanding why that was so hard to believe. She did tell him they should hang out more a few weeks ago. What's more, she gave him the impression she liked him, and she didn't do that with lots of people "I was wondering if you had any plans for this weekend"

Sirius's jaw clenched. What the witch was doing was low, even for a Slytherin.

Remus, on the other hand, looked pretty surprised – and so did the rest of his friends; seriously, the little guy even seemed to have his mouth partly open.

Upon the momentary lack of answer, fearing he would decline, Natalia spoke up again: "It will be very fun! We can have some warm butterbeer and some candy! We're friends after all, aren't we?"

"Of course" the boy said, a good natured smile on his face

"So you're coming?"

"Yes, I'll be happy to"

"That's marvelous, Remus darling!" Natalia gave him one of her most charming smiles, posing a hand softly over his arm. "Alright! I'll see you Saturday morning then. Do bring your exploiting snaps, I am pretty good at them myself but seem to have lost them" and she spoke so quickly, because of the cold, he was barely able to understand her.

She was only a few steps backwards when Sirius finally decided he had something to say.

"Yaxley!" he called roughly "I need to talk to you for a minute"

"Well, I'm very busy, so sorry, can't do" she smiled with a shrug, turning around to leave with a sense of superiority she simply adored, but then she felt a hand wrapping around her forearm – not too strongly, not too rough, but enough of a good grip to make her stop walking.

"I think you can spare a minute or two" he smirked, making her lose all traces of her own satisfied smile.

Rolling her eyes, and stomping her feet against the snow, and completely oblivious of the curious looks the rest of the marauders and a few of other students that happened to be around had while watching the scene, Natalia lead the way so they both could talk "fine" had been her only answer.

They walked in silence, she in front and he close behind, and none of them seemed too happy to be on each other's presence. Once they made sure they were far enough from praying ears but not too far to raise suspicion on those who remained behind, she turned around, crossing one arm over the other and looking at the wizard in front of her expectantly.

"You are incredible" he let out.

"Thank you"

"It wasn't a compliment"

"Well, then chose your words better. Is that all?"

He rolled his eyes

"Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a little girl" he groaned, more to himself than to her

"Then stop talking to me if it makes you so miserable"

Instead of doing what was smart, what was right, what was logical (which of course was, do as she said and stop complicating his life with the meddling of a pink loving blonde brat), he closed his eyes, let out a sigh and as calm as he was able to, he said: "What are the chances of you shutting up until you get your way?"

"Hmm, pretty slim"

"Yeah, that's what a thought" he chuckled wryly "Fine, you won"

She raised a brow, really, completely clueless of whatever he was referring to. And she told him so: "Won what?"

"Tomorrow night, bring your cape and we'll go do something to Hogsmeade. No one can see its us and we have to be careful, so no three broomsticks; no honeydukes; and especially not Madam Puddigross tea place. Got it?"

"But that only leaves Hog's Head Inn!" she whined.

"Take it or leave it"

Observing him for a minute, a tiny smile began to form on her face, and she tried keeping it tamed but failed at doing so – and even if she had been able to do so, her eyes would have given her away, for they shined like blue stars. Even Sirius found it hard not to smile himself.

"I could hug you right now"

"Don't. There's people"

"I know" she said, and in her voice, all traces of anger were completely gone.

Then, remembering where he was and in part, one of the reasons why he had agreed to do what he did, he said: "You can tell Remus tomorrow you won't be able to go out with him on Saturday"

"Why would I do that?" she frowned

"Didn't you just get what you wanted?"

"So? I usually do. I meant what I said. I like Remus, he seems very nice and I get very bored on the weekends, I could use another friend. So unless you are volunteering to go out with me to the three broomsticks on Saturday, during daylight, I'm still going with him" she informed, crossing her arms once again. Then, remembering all the boy in front of her had just done, she added "But I mean it, I only like Remus as a friend. He's very sweet"

Sirius rolled his eyes, and decided not to answer.

"Thank you. It'll be very fun. I promise you. You won't regret it" Natalia said, a smile beginning to creep once again on her face.

" _Whatever_ "

And she could see he appreciated her words even behind his shown disinterest. Her brother did the same thing; every time she did something nice for them, they played It as nothing, but little things as the way their eyes looked and their lips pursed gave them away. What was it with boys and their insufferable need to seem emotionless? She could simply not understand it.

"So what are you going to tell them? About the reason why you wanted to talk to me"

"I'll just tell them something related to my mother

"Good" she nodded, and it looked as if their conversation was over, but she added: "and please put on a coat on, or at least a sweater. You'll get sick if you come out dressed like that!"

* * *

Not being exactly a major rule breaker – if one didn't take into account all those times she sneaked out after curfew to meet Sirius and all those times she copied off Jane's or her brother's assignments – Natalia was naturally jumping at every little sound when Friday afternoon came and her plans began to take fly. Were anyone to catch them, she'd not only face perhaps months of detention that her parents would _surely_ hear of, which would unleash so much more troubles for her; but also, if they caught her sneaking out with him, her parents and pretty much everyone else in the castle would surely hear, and would she be able to show up her face anywhere after that? A young witch, sneaking out of the castle with a boy who is not her boyfriend, nor her fiancée and not even a person who she was supposed to get along with – I'd be a scandal, she'd be labeled a loose girl and everyone knows the only way to fix up a scandal such as that, it'd be for them to be betrothed – and she was perfectly aware there was no way on earth Sirius would ever agree to such a thing (and to be honest, she didn't think she would either, why be married to someone who doesn't want to be married to you?)

"Would you please relax? I've done this a thousand times, we're not going to get caught" he hissed from upfront.

He was leading her, and it seemed as if he knew the way by heart, holding her wrist his to make her follow.

"Easy for you to say! At least you can see" Yes, she was blindfolded. He hadn't wanted her to learn the way to his secret passage – she had rolled her eyes, complained that she wouldn't be able to remember it anyway, and then agreed to be blinded for if not he said they weren't going anywhere and she hadn't gone through all the trouble she went through to be stuck in the castle again.

"Quit it"

"Well, if we do get caught, you'll have to say this was all your fault"

"My fault?" he laughed "And why would I do that? You were the one who demanded to go out with me"

" _I_ didn't demand anything. You were the one who came up with this, thus you should be a gentleman and take the fault were anything to happen"

"I told you, we're not getting caught" his monotone voice said.

She started blabbering about something else then, how Constance Allingway snored terribly and then denied it when confronted about it. Sirius was only half listening, first because he held no interest on Allingway, and secondly because he hadn't allowed himself to take the map so he had to pay lots of attention to the way he walked to, if not they could get lost. The reason why he hadn't taken the map with him were several, but the most important one was because it was currently on Remus' power, the most organized of the four of them, and had he asked for it, it'd have certainly raised suspicion.

Thankfully, the fact that he had been doing this with his friends for years now, paid off, and they made It to Honeydukes before Natalia could have a third time at asking ' _How long until we're there_?'

Taking off her blindfold, they made it out to the sweets shops, and it was easy to tell Natalia was surprised.

"Can we buy-

"No. All the sellers here know you"

Knowing she could not disagree with that, she sighed and nodded, and trying to look as natural as possible, as if they were just two locals browsing around instead of two underage boarding school students who should definitely not be there, they left the building.

She had always loved Hogsmeade, but never had her eyes shined as much and her head twisted from one side to the other as many times as that day. She had never in her whole life been in the town at such hours, and Merlin she regretted that. It was not only full of life, for all the locals were walking around – some, people she had never seen before- but the lights coming from the houses and shops made it all so much more charming.

Sirius seemed pleased with the way she was responding to it, and allowed himself to enjoy the magical town as well. They walked at a casual pace, never stopping in front of any showcases but no rushing either. Their hoods seemed to be protection enough in case anyone were to recognize them. Leaving her original state of silent amazement behind, Natalia soon began talking, telling him how much nicer it looked at this time of day.

"Do you this often?"

"With the rest of the boys"

"Ah, I see…" she said "Have you ever bought someone else with you?"

He seemed uncomfortable by her question, for saying the truth would make it seem as if it were something special, and he didn't want her to think this was special, and he didn't want to think so himself either.

"Sometimes"

Good thing her entire face was covered, had he gotten a glimpse of her killer eyes, he'd have probably told her the truth.

Still, although annoyed by his answer, she decided to let it go. Who cared if he had brought some other witches with him, she was there now and besides, the past was the past. She should at least enjoy her time there, she could be angry later at the castle, when boringness stroked again.

The Hog's Head Inn looked dirty even front outside. Natalia simply couldn't help but to wrinkle her nose, making Sirius snort. It really was a place where no good breed witch should ever find herself at, but then again, she shouldn't be In the company of a wizard with the reputation of Sirius Black either and she found herself searching for it more and more as days passed by. Her impression of it didn't get any better after seeing the wild boar's severed head sign at the door, which happened to be leaking fresh blood onto a white cloth around it.

Inside… it wasn't much better. The smell was definitely the worst of it all, and even Sirius seemed a little bothered by it. Still, none of them mentioned it a thing – and Merlin was the boy surprised Natalia had nothing to say about it.

She did, however, seem all ready to throw up when she actually had to place her frame down onto those seats.

"I'll go get us drinks and something to eat. What'd you fancy?"

"Uhm… is there a menu for us to look at?"

The yell of glee coming from a drunk man sitting a few tables away from them, who had just won a hand of cards, told her the answer to her question.

"Fine… uhm… I think I'll have a steak. I don't eat sheep, or goat, or Dragon's meat, so It'll have to be made of something else"

" _I'll be back_ " was his only answer.

" _Oh_! And potatoes!"

She waited, perhaps, for five minutes. In the meantime, she fixed whatever damage that hood may have done to her hair – it wasn't always that it looked as tamed as she had managed to make it look for the night, hence why she had been so against wearing that bloody hood, but of course she eventually agreed to doing so, in order not to be recognized.

She had put all her effort into preparing for that day, reading every single edition of Twitch Magazine she could get her hands on in order to find any sort of advice she could get; drinking as much hair potion as physically possible without intoxicating herself , and applying some make up here and there. It annoyed her greatly that Jane hadn't been able to help her, especially since she was considering telling her about Sirius and herself during a near future, but she managed. She knew he probably hadn't meant it like that, but technically, they were on a date.

Her first date.

Ever since she was a young with, since she had learned of the significance of it, she had dreamed of what her first date would be like. It always included a charming and handsome wizard; a lovely venue filled with her favourite flowers and great illumination; good food, preferably French, which always included dessert; and of course, chocolates from the wizard in question, to celebrate the fact she had finally said 'yes' to his insistence; it was usually set during summer, and the timing would vary depending on her liking of the moment.

The reality was… well, it was different. She had a handsome wizard, and he was charming too – not so much towards her, at least not when people were around, but he was charming from time to time, and she knew that if people were to know, they'd be jealous (and angry, because Sirius Black was trouble). The cold air that flogged the town remarked how far away February was from summer, but still, managed to make it look lovely. And while not a French restaurant of any sorts, she was hoping (by the somehow satisfied looks of those people sitting near her) that the food would be of her liking.

Perhaps younger Natalia would be utterly disgusted with her current situation (to a point, 16 year old Natalia was also a tiny bit disturbed by it) but none of those things made her feel any less happy than she felt. It was as if her life, the things she had always dreamed of, were officially beginning (differently, of course, but the fact that this was real and her fantasies were just fantasies made the Hog's Head Inn not look so bad) She literally felt the pixies in her stomach people talked so much about on romantic novels and plays – she wanted to feel that all the time.

A sigh couldn't help but escape her mouth. She'd definitely be upset when the day of leaving Sirius came, no point denying it. In that moment, looking what she thought was her prettiest and looking at him ordering from the bar, she even wished she would never have to leave him and could continue being with him and marry and have everything she needed with no one else but him.

Who knew? Perhaps he'd wake up one morning and decide marriage was indeed for him, and that despite some dodgy, miscarried years he was ready to follow into his parents footsteps, becoming a respectable wizard and marrying a respectable young witch as well. The thought made her drop a bitter chuckle.

However, she had no time or interest to keep on thinking about things that made her miserable, and as he walked back to the table, the pixies on her stomach began dancing and flying and moving again, all negatives thoughts soon forgotten.

"Food should be here on a few minutes" he informed as he took place next to her.

"Good. This place actually doesn't seem that bad. Of course, it smells kind of bad and the people around here could definitely make a better use of their mirrors… and yes, also they should light up a few more candles, this light makes it a bit difficult for me to see"

And he really tried, but a smile soon broke into his face. Watching Natalia trying to be polite about anything she didn't actually like was perhaps the most amusing thing to witness ever, because one could really tell she was trying hard but simply failed. She was simply a terrible liar. He liked that about her.

"Well, then wait until you try your food"

"Is it any good?"

"You know those meat caldrons they usually serve at that idiot Malfoy's Yule party? " she nodded, biting her lips at the single memory of those delicious little things "Stake here is that good"

"See? I knew this place had some hidden jewels"

Then they proceeded to talk about the meat caldrons, to then move on unto how disgusting had 1974's Yule pork tasted (to which Sirius confessed to be at fault, he had added a sort of potion to it – Natalia had told him off, but then she smiled)

Food came not too long after, and despite the stern look the guy who served them gave them (seriously, for a second Natalia thought he'd take them to the castle by the neck of their cloaks and that she'd be spending the rest of her sixth year at Durmstramg), he left as soon as the plates touched the wood and the teens were by themselves once again.

They were an amusing pair to watch by outsiders, that's for sure. Pretty, the both of them, obviously none had faced half of the things the people around them did, and they had this odd delicacy when picking at their food that it made some want to go over their table and tell them to leave, for they did not belong there. However, one look at their faces made every single creature who felt any sort of animosity towards them forget it all, and leave them be instead, for their faces showed pure pleasure as they chewed the same food they chewed every night.

Sirius had to chuckle at the sight of Natalia's closed eyes, as she helped herself another bite of meat. It reminded him of that time when they made pizza together, which seemed so long ago – many things had changed since that day.

"Oh, shut up" she complained, after swallowing the food and cleaning up the corners of her mouth with the _napkin_ she had requested to be brought at their table after she found that there wasn't any. It really wasn't a napkin, but just a piece of almost clean fabric, but she decided it'd do considering the place where she was at.

"Just as good as the meat caldrons?"

"Surprisingly yes" she said, dragging another piece of it towards her mouth "Speaking of that, I cannot believe you poisoned the pork. No wonders everyone seemed so disgusted by it. I thought Mrs. Malfoy was going to pass out from embarrassment"

"I know, that was my favourite part" he smirked.

"Didn't she pass away like the following year?" she said, taking another bite.

"Would love to take credit for that, but witch was as old as a goblin"

"Yes, that's true. I never liked her. She used to tell me off whenever she saw me; in front of my own parents at that. It was so embarrassing"

"Welcome to my world" he said, taking a gulp out of his cup

"Yes, you really do get into people's nerves"

"Especially people like them"

"Like who?"

"Like them. Malfoy and all his idiotic family – which includes my cousin; my parents; your parents; my brother; anyone who's an elitist blood supremacist arse, really"

"According to you I'm an elitist blood supremacist arse"

They were quiet for a second, both looking each other on the eye.

"Yeah, most of the time you are" he sighed.

They ate some more, but Natalia seemed to be staring at her plate for a bit too long, moving her fork back and forth around her food (a gesture that'd surely get a scold by her mother had she seen her) Finally, she seemed to have come to terms with saying what was on her mind:

"Why do you care so much? Defending muggles, I mean"

And although at any other point such a question would have gotten Sirius all red on the face and screaming his guts out to get his point across, this time that didn't happen. He didn't know how, but he could see how perhaps for the first time in her life, she meant no harm by asking that question, but really, she was purely curious. He almost smiled, remembering back when he had been almost the same, all those years ago, asking that same question.

"Because they're people, just like you and me"

"You know that's not true. We're superior"

He sneered, not because it was funny, but because life was very ironic.

"You sound so much like my mother"

Frowning, Natalia really didn't know what to make out of that. Instead of keeping on with their current conversation, she decided it would be wise to take advantage of his unusually calm approach of the matter and keep on enjoying their so far lovely evening, changing the subject.

"Do you like your mother?"

"Absolutely not" was his immediate response.

"Do you love her?"

His mouth closed after he realized he really didn't know the answer to that. And not even Merlin knows why, but he told her exactly that: "I'm not sure"

Surprisingly, she smiled sadly, the gloomiest of looks on her eyes, and said: "Me neither"

"I thought you loved your parents"

"I love my father" was her soft reply "He's kind and always has something nice to say to me, even when he should't. But my mother… I'm not sure. I respect her, of course, she deserves that, but I'm not so sure that I love her. I definitely don't like her and am aware she dislikes me as well." Then, regaining her usual energetic voice, she added with a gasp: "Wow. This is the first time I have said this out loud. Dare to think about this for more than two minutes, really"

What she found when she raised her head to meet his eyes was odd. There he was, looking at he in a kind of way he had never had before: no lust, no anger, no anything she had ever seen on his face when looking at her.

Calmly, and fully unlike himself, he said: " _You'll figure it out_ " and no, it wasn't as one of those dismissive answers he would usually give, but he actually meant it. He knew he would soon, one day, figure it out too, and really wished she would too.

Conversation lightened up after that, but a new mood was settled around them. They were so very alike and different at the same time, and know they both were fully aware of it, and surprisingly, they weren't that apprehensive about it.

They spent the rest of the night making little jokes, laughing, scolding at each other to then laugh about it again. At one point, after she had finished off her stake she asked if he could give her what was left of his and after some mocking on his part and threats by hers to hex him if he kept on ridiculing her, he agreed.

When they left, there found there wasn't many people outside, which was rare because although late and cold, it was still a Friday night. Still, they were more than happy about it, for it gave them the chance to walk freely without any sort of worry. The reason why the lack of people made itself visible when small little flakes of snow began falling down the sky.

Natalia giggled, having always been a fan of snow, and grabbed Sirius by the hands and dragged him around as they moved without any path at all, spinning around and singing some David Bowie while she did so.

After nearly falling and been caught by Sirius' arm (who of course mocked her and told her to stay put for a second), they kissed. Unlike any of their other kisses, this one was different. They were different too – still the same people, but their relationship had changed. The kiss was almost sweet and tender, but it didn't last long, for it soon escalated onto their usual snogging.

Already close to 1 in the morning, judging by Sirius pocket watch which had given him little electricity shocks three times already after half past twelve had passed, they marched their way back to the castle without hurry, taking their time.

"You know where I'd like to go next?" she said while turning around to face him, walking backwards as she did so, brows as high as her energy and eyes widely open "To a David Bowie's concert! I mean, if we managed to go get here we can surely go wherever it is he's playing at. Don't you think?"

And at the idea he chuckled, because it really didn't sound that bad.

"Sure"

And they smiled at each other for a while, and that one last look was a scene they would secretly replay on their minds before going to bed that night, losing more hours of sleep than those needed.


	21. chapter 21

**_Hi everyone! First of all, I am aware this is the shortest chapter I've ever uploaded but here comes my explanation for that: I was just soooo happy with the reviews I got and wanted to treat you all with a quick update, and since I know that if I extended this one more I probably wouln't be able to finish it until next month or so, I decided this was better than nothing, and that besides, I feel it's pretty good._**

 ** _If you want me to hurry and write the next one, please leave a couple reviews, you have no idea how much it helps. You can ask, suggest, or say pretty much anything that has to do with this story._**

 ** _Nana! Thanks soooo much for your long review, you sort of put me in the mood to finish this one, so voila. Regarding to the Jane-James plot, I haven't been uploading much about it because I was thinking of giving it a fic of its own, since perhaps most people are here to read mostly about Natalia and Sirius, so I already have the first chapter for that fic almost finished and will be uploading at some point during Feb - hope you're interested enough to read it. And yes! I know, they are such goners for each other (N &S) _**

**_Well, I don't own Harry Potter, as you all know by now._**

 ** _Please review if you're liking it so far._**

"You won't believe what I just saw" the small figure let out as he settled his books down on the table, honestly hoping to get an answer to his revelation.

Regulus held the impulse to roll his eyes and instead focused on getting his own material and books out of his bag. He refused to believe anyone with a brain who had any idea of who he was would fail to understand that conversations that started with such an insubstantial sentence as the one just emitted held no interest to him. Archie Avery should've guessed by then that the only reason why Regulus, who was two years older, was even sitting at the library helping him out with his school work then and the few weeks before that one, was solely as a favour to both their mothers.

The lack of response did not discourage the boy, and instead, proceeded to tell the rest of his tale as if they were outside in the grounds and not the library: "Rosier, the sixth year, being chased by at least three dozen giant snowballs" he chuckled "No one managed to make them stop, so he ran around the Quidditch field for at least half an hour"

The fifth year raised a single brow, his eyes lacking from any emotion except that of annoyance: "Is that the reason why you got here late?"

"What?" I'm not late" then, he checked at the clock over the wall "Well, it was only five minutes, you can't seriously be angry about that"

This time, however, the older wizard allowed himself to perform a neat, award deserving roll of eyes – he deserved to give himself that treat as a payment for spending precious moments of his solicitude in the company of such a clueless kid. He didn't like spending time with people in general, but seemed stuck with the youngest Avery simply because he was too lazy to pass his classes on his own and his sister was too stupid and selfish to teach him herself.

He didn't tell him off or said any of the things that appeared on his mind, for he was not his father and if the boy hadn't learned of basic human interaction rules from Mr. Avery, such as not being late for meetings of any sort, he wasn't going to be the one to teach him.

The hour was long and headache inducing, so when it came to an end, Regulus was more than relieved to gather up his things and seclude into his common room.

Usually, even after doing something as unpleasant as babysitting a twelve year old who struggled to pay attention for more than two minutes, he'd have stayed in the library and getting some work done ahead, but with Quidditch and everything else he felt himself exhausted, so instead he decided to go ask an elf to pour himself a cup of tea and simply enjoy the comfort a good mystery book could offer.

He ignored what was appropriate and didn't offer Archie his company to walk to the common room and instead took off by himself; besides, he doubted the little brat would go straight to the common room – chances were he would go outside and waste further time. That suited the fifth year just fine, the less idiotic people in the common room while he was in it, the better.

Things improved just slightly, since when he got to the boys dormitory to pick up his book he found it to be completely inhabited, which made him consider if perhaps he should stay there instead and avoid the risk of running into any unpleasant individuals, but he quickly turned the option down and dragged himself up to the common room, where a cup of just boiled chamomile tea was waiting for him next to his favourite chair. A tiny smile was drawn on his lips almost immediately

Tranquility didn't last long, and the fairly occupied common room soon grew close to being loaded, but Regulus should've seen that coming, since it always happened around the same time. That was the curse of living with dozens of other people around his age in one same castle; home wasn't paradise either, since his brother was gone most of the time (thanks Merlin for that) and that made their mother give Regulus twice the attention, and considering Walburga's talkative nature, that was _a lot_ of attention.

There was plenty of loud talking going on around him, but there was a voice that particularly grabbed his attention, for it was headache inducing. Lifting up his head, he saw without surprise that the owner of said voice was no other than Natalia Yaxley, who at the moment stood with both hands at her waist in what appeared to be an attempt to look intimidating, which Regulus thought was beyond stupid, since she seemed barely taller than a goblin and the person who she appeared to be pestering was her own brother who by some reason, despite being her twin, was closer in height to a half giant that he was to the witch next to him.

Simon seemed bored, but still listened to the witch's instructions without looking away from her. He carried a big package on both arms, and it appeared to be the source of the problem. From what Regulus could hear from his place (and that was plenty, since Natalia Yaxley wasn't one to whisper), she demanded for him to give the package back to her so she could take some items she had placed there by mistake, and she wanted to go and do the re-sorting of whatever it was that sandy coloured package contained in her dormitory, but Simon didn't want her to do that because he claimed she'd take forever to do so and that he was ready to dispatch it right that minute.

The whole interaction made the dark haired wizard roll his eyes. He really didn't understand how people put up with her. Simon Yaxley had to be perhaps the most patient person in the whole world, given that he played the parts of babysitter and brother to such an annoying creature as her. Regulus thought he'd rather curse himself before spending half the time Simon was obliged to spend with his twin with his own brother (arguably less obnoxious than Yaxley)

It seemed at last, the siblings found middle ground, and with a frown that could've rivaled his own, Natalia placed the package on the floor and got down on her knees and without much care at all opened it, almost tearing apart the paper and gaining herself a scold from Simon. He was about to look away as the witch began pulling dozens of clothes, most of them pink, but there was something that caught his eye.

He had to close off his book and lean over, not quite believing what he was seeing.

He refused to believe that, for it would make no sense, but it appeared to him that there was no other option but what he was thinking. That was his brother's sweater.

How he knew that was the case? Well, for starters, that was the only dark item among the several clothes that belonged to her in that package – as if that wasn't enough, it seemed bigger than something she'd wear, and for some reason, she was quick to hide it under a pile of clothes so Simon wouldn't be able to look at it from his angle – but Regulus, on the other hand, got a perfect view of _his_ family coat of arms embroiled on a slightly darker hue of blue.

Arctuctus Black always gave his grandchildren the same present, one for each, but they looked the same. In the Christmas of 1974 he had given both young boys a pair of blue chimaera's wool sweaters, charmed to grow a size bigger every year until they turned twenty, and with the distinguish family mark on the right side of the chest. Regulus recognized it well because it was one of those few items that were bought by members of the family that his brother didn't put on a fuss to wear, and it seemed as if he rather liked it.

Now, the idea that Yaxley had somehow managed to get into his dormitories and stolen his own didn't escape him, because even that was more possible than the blonde owning anything that belonged to Sirius (since she seemed to detest him, along with the rest of their house, just as much as Regulus himself disliked them both), but he was sure that wasn't his, for he had stained his with flu recovering potion at the end of his fourth year and he had never been able to get rid of the stain – and Merlin had he tried.

No, that was Sirius' sweater, and the way in which Natalia Yaxley grabbed all the clothes from the floor, careful enough to let that single dark blue item on the bottom, away from her brother's gaze, only confirmed that.

An incredulous smile took power of Regulus' young face, and without really wanting to, he busted into laughter – a foreign sound coming from his mouth, these days, so naturally heads were drawn to his direction. Still, he didn't care and kept on laughing, unable to stop himself. His brother was screwing Yaxley.


	22. chapter 22

_**Hey there! Hope you're all well. Thanks so much for your reviews LeleMichaelson and MessyMindYou, hope you two like this one.**_

 _ **I think I mispelled Peter's last name a few times but I'm too lazy to go and change it now since I never bothered learning how to properly write it.**_

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 _ **I don't own Harry Potter.**_

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* * *

 _Monday, March 5th, 1977_

Both jinx and yelling struck him at the same time.

"How could you!?"

"What on-

"You're such a git!"

Another jinx was aimed to his face, and thanks Merlin for Quidditch, he managed to escape it without even a scratch, running to the side of the room and catching a glimpse into furious blue eyes.

"Yaxley stop that, you're going to hurt yourself!" he growled, as he dropped down to his stomach, to avoid yet another one.

"No, I'll only hurt you"

And so went her attempt number four, this time actually managing to hit him in the leg, make him cry in pain, quickly running his arms around it, in order to minimize the stinging, realizing with horror that it was rapidly swelling as well. He had to give it to her, despite being terrible at Transfigurations; she could pull curses like a professional.

Luckily – because since his wand was on his trousers' back pocket and with all the pain he was experiencing, he doubted he'd be half as good with it as he usually was – that last punch seemed to be enough for the blonde witch, who approached him with a red face, looking angrier than ever.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?" he cried, trying not to show how much it stung, but failing at do so. He was now sitting down, and she soon was in front of him.

Despite the pain, he truly wondered what had he done to get her in such a state. Everything had gone awfully well after that time they sneaked out to Hogsmeade. They barely argued anymore about anything serious, and they seemed to be laughing or talking about their interest more often than they had ever in their lives. On Valentine's day, when Sirius had feared would be extremely awkward, she had stayed in bed sick for the day, freeing him from any sort of discomfort, and the next day, when she had showed up to class exceptionally well recovered, she didn't even brought it up.

"You think you're so funny" her fists were clenched.

He frowned: "What on Merlin's name are you talking about"

"Don't' pretend. Remus told me yesterday. The poor thing didn't know how to tell me the truth"

"Truth?" his face drew in panic, for a second fearing Remus may have told her all about his furry problem and Sirius implication with it. It was unlikely, but what other sort of thing could he have told her?

"About David Bowie" she snapped, making a horrified face that compared to his own "A muggle! Not even a muggle born, a disgusting _muggle_ " she wasn't even looking at his face as she said that, disgust clear on her features and voice – said disgust, wasn't exactly directed to the singer, but instead, at herself.

"Are you seriously-

"How could you have done this to me! Making me learn all those muggle songs, from those muggle men. I've even told people about it! No wonder they didn't know who he was. Thanks Merlin they didn't, because then I'd be getting called blood traitor by squibs and even lower" she rumbled, as if she were talking to herself, no trace of paleness on her face for it was as pink as it could get "What were you thinking about?" she hissed.

Sirius looked at her blankly. Had he not been feeling so much pain, perhaps he _could_ have sympathized with her; were he feeling on an exceptional good mood, he would have gone so far as faking a quick apology, but she had bloody jinxed him, and it stung.

"I merely brought the records, you were the one who listened to it nonstop, and _loved_ it" he meant those words to be as cruel as possible.

"Shut up" words came out slowly.

"Why, I'm telling the truth"

"Shut up!"

"Admit it. You enjoyed a muggle's work, you even went as far as saying he was a genius. You're not that much different from myself. What would mommy and daddy say if-

And he never got to hear the end of that speech, for a loud sob drowned whatever words he was thinking of saying. Lifting his head up, he found that Natalia was no longer standing, but sitting on an armchair, covering her face with both hands and undoubtedly, crying.

He seriously didn't think it would have affected her so much.

Discomfort soon creped onto his body, and at one point it was almost as equally painful as the pain from his now very swollen leg. This would be the second time he was witnessing Natalia tearing up, and it wasn't any easier than the first time – if anything, it was way worse. Guilt was the third emotion he felt in such a short period of time. Perhaps he had gone a bit far with the things he had just yelled at her… yes, he had. She's a girl and she's emotional, he shouldn't have been so harsh – besides, she didn't know better, she was just as brainwashed as he was when he was younger.

"Natalia-

"I hope you had a good laugh" she sobbed against her palms.

He was silent. He really didn't know what to say, but her sobbing only increased, and he really wanted it to stop. He was aware he had been cause of many girls crying though the years, but it had never bothered him much, but with Natalia… he wasn't sure why, but he really wished she wouldn't be crying – he had recently admitted to himself that yes, perhaps he liked her more than he had liked other girls, but that the feeling would soon die so there wasn't much to worry about, but instead, he should enjoy until it all passed.

"I didn't think It'd upset you so much"

"Of course you did!" she yelled, removing her hands from her face and allowing him to see her puffy and reddened face, her eyes as teary as those of a child and the tip of her nose was a little wet.

It only made him feel worst.

Then, she stopped looking at him again, which he thought made it easier for him to say what he struggled to let out next: "No, I didn't. I wouldn't have done it if I had"

"Why not?" she snapped again "You seem to be quite the jester"

He grew even more uncomfortable. On the good side, that seemed to make him momentarily forget about that piercing sting. He almost didn't say it, but his leg really hurt and it didn't let him think straight.

"I don't enjoy making you upset, you know"

It was barely a whisper, and Natalia managed to understand near to nothing of it. She would've thought nothing of it, but seeing his red cheeks and the way he was staring at the ground made her ask: "What did you say?"

He sighed, but replied with honesty, louder but just as uncomfortable: "I said I don't like seeing you upset" he sighed again "I'm sorry, alright?"

She sniffed once, but said nothing for a while; instead she sat there looking at him, not quite believing what she saw. He, on the other hand, was sweating from the pain but had the decency not to complain in front of her; after all, he should have seen something of the sort coming.

" _You truly are_ " she let out on a whisper, completely amazed.

"Huh?" he growled, lifting up his chin.

She didn't answer, but stared at him for a long time with the most curious of looks. At that moment, he really wanted her to say something, anything, maybe even curse him again. Then, when he let out a sigh out of pain and drew his hand to his twice the size of a leg, she seemed to be pulled off her trance, lowering her eyes to where his leg rested, making a grimace as she witnessed.

She stood up silently, and for a moment Sirius feared she would leave him there in his situation, but instead of walking left, towards the door, she made a turn towards the corner in the right, where she kept bag. Not daring to ask for anything, the wizard watched trying to understand what she was looking for, and was most surprised when he saw her pull out a book.

"I'm sorry" she said as she ran her fingertips through the pages, her voice coming off very nasal due to all the crying "I have no idea how to fix this… I have never actually wanted to after cursing someone"

"That's okay"

There wasn't much talking done after that, but he could sense she had forgiven him… even if he hadn't exactly said the words out loud. Turned out there wasn't much to do when it came to the stinging jinx but to wait, but Natalia was able to give him some of her pain deceasing potion she kept around for something she refused to admit, and surprisingly it worked fairly well.

The rest was wait, and they did so, for a couple hours until the swelling finally went down and Sirius recovered the ability to walk without crying out of paying after a second. She had spent most of her time dripping her nails unto some smelly colour potion that was supposed to turn them into pink – he, meanwhile, and very unlike him, tried making up conversation between the two of them, always careful enough to avoid the records subject. Her answers were short, considering they came from Natalia Yaxley, but had them come off another witch no one would have been able to realize something was wrong – they didn't make jokes or tease each other, as they usually did, but he didn't expect that'd be the case after such a scene.

However, when they were ready to leave, she was the one to rise up what had been the reason for the whole problem.

"Please do get rid of them" she said, clearly uncomfortable

"Yeah, I'll take them to my dorm"

She nodded, and then added: "You should simply get rid of them for good. I don't know why you'd want to listen to such atrocious things. Besides, people may get the wrong idea of you if they catch you listening to that stuff."

There was no walking together, and there was no answer from Sirius, as he watched her leave. Under normal circumstances, he would've had a lot to say about what she had just told her: first off, that was very good music that had cost him good money, for the records had been smuggled by this muggle born who also got him cigarettes; second, funny thing she would call that music atrocious, when she knew the lyrics of most by heart after less than two months of listening to them; and thirdly, what sort of wrong idea could people get of him if they found him listening to those records? That was exactly the image he wished to give off, a complete opposite one from his family's – not to mention that most people already knew he listened to muggle music and read muggle books just to piss off purists, who of course, just as Natalia, couldn't have even realized who was a muggle and who wasn't, for they were too absorbed on their purist little brains.

But he stood quiet, because he almost could understand where her hurt came from. After all, he had once been almost as confused, back in first year, when he realized muggleborns weren't little people with horns trying to take your family's magic away, but instead, they were people like Sam Nicks, who always had a spare quill to lend to anyone who had forgotten they own (and he did that a lot); they were people like Brandon Schnaps, the beater who during Sirus' second year, had told him he had quite a good arm, and that he should try joining the team once he left school; people like Lily Evans, a stuck up and know it all who despite that managed to be kind to even the worst of people. He remembered spending endless nights debating if perhaps his parents had exaggerated a little; if perhaps it was just a phase, and soon he would start seeing those muggleborns for what they really were; that perhaps these muggleborns were different from the ones his parents and aunts and uncles had encountered, that these ones were better.

It wasn't that he expected she'd react that much differently than how she had… he had just sort of forgotten the whole David Bowie business. At the beginning sure, it had been mostly because he was bored of listening to the same average wrock bands she liked, but it had also been because he wanted to tease her once she admitted liking any of the muggle work – then she had been so excited and started liking most of those bands (especially David Bowie's), even more than him, and then he hadn't seen a reason to tell her; then he simply forgot.

He was going to kill Remus, was his only thought as he walked towards the tower with a sore leg and the threat of a headache. Everything would be so much easy if those two hadn't decided to be best friends.

Yes, he was exaggerating. They didn't hang out or talk that much, but it was slowly escalating and he didn't like it one bit – not because he thought anything could happen between the two of them, since he knew them both fairly well and well, they didn't seem like each other's types of the least; no, he loathed the friendship because he feared things like what had just happened: Remus telling her stuff she wasn't supposed to know, she telling stuff back at him

Anyway, with a sigh, he went to bed.

—•—•—

* * *

The next morning Natalia woke up with the largest of smiles, and kept it on while getting ready, breakfast and pretty much the rest of the morning. She was decided to leave all past behind and forget about that silly thing that happened. Muggles were deceiving, she should've known that, but anyway, it could happen to anyone, there was no need to dwell on it for too long.

Instead, she chatted with Jane and even asked her about that horrendous thing she kept with Potter and that she called a relationship and even pretended not to be as disgusted by it as she really was.

"And he truly is a gentleman. Even when no one's looking at us, he keeps on being the most polite wizard ever. You should see it Nat! Is like all we ever dreamed of"

Natalia smiled tightly, doubting it highly, but said nothing against it.

"I'm sure of it, Janie. Has he bought you any presents so far? You know, how long has it been already? Five weeks? Four? He should've given you flowers for each day you have graced him with your company"

To that Jane laughed nervously: "Not really… It has only been over six weeks now. And you know I'm allergic to most flowers, they make me all sniffly"

"So what? I'd rather spend every day of my life in sickness than not to receive a flower from my object of affection, besides, you don't have to put them near your face. Is all about the gesture, Jane" She patronized "Although… given flowers aren't really an option for you, jewelry could do.. .yes, nothing too dashing, for it would spoil any presents he may think of giving you during your birthday or Christmas or anniversaries, but a bit of silver wouldn't hurt, don't you think? Your skin looks most nice in silver" and as she said that, she held Jane's thin wrist up in the air, examining it.

Things were great for the rest of the day. At Transfigurations, the class for which Sirius was most nervous about, since he would be forced to sit with her for a long period of time and he wasn't sure what her mood would be like after the other day, but it seemed as if she was the same as most days: chatty and only slightly annoying – she had even allowed a giggle to escape her mouth after she made fun of Sirius' atrocious handwriting (not that he was a fan of public demonstrations of their not so loathed relationship with each other, he would take it a hundred times over the stinging and crying)

In fact, Natalia Yaxley was prepared to say she had a perfectly good day as she walked to the dungeons with Amelia Avery, after the pair had ran into each other at the end of their last class for the day – Jane, on the other hand, chose to spend her time with Potter in the library, why would anyone with a brain prefer to do that was beyond Natalia's understanding. Yes, she had a very good day, and it really got better when they reached the fourth floor.

It seemed as if Amelia hadn't noticed, for she kept on talking about Quidditch – something in which the witch appeared to be very keen on, unlike Natalia who half listened to it with a bit of boredom (which is why she noticed). Sitting on the steps of the staircase, two girls gigged as they read each other letters they must've recently received, judging by the quality and how clean the paper looked. Natalia felt her smile grow as that of a Cheshire cat.

"Amelia, dear" she cut the seventh year off, making her raise her brows, unable to understand why the witch would cut her off during the most important part of her story: when she scored three points on a road during a house match "Stop right this moment. Do you not feel some nauseating odor?" she said innocently, the voice could've matched that of an angel, had it not been slightly nasal.

She pretended to sniff around; making sure the older girl followed her head around to look at what she was supposed to look at. Her voice loud enough so it would reach her target.

Sam Nicks and Mary McDonalds lifted up their heads and erased the smirks off. They really hoped Yaxley was not referring to the two of them, not because they were scared of her (quite the opposite) but they knew the girl had a venom for blood, and that each time she opened her mouth she let some out, and they were Gryffindors and likely to respond to whatever evil thing the Slytherin would say – and, if it went that way, they would probably get detention.

Finally, after longer than what Natalia would have liked, Amelia realized what she was referring to, and she confirmed that by given her housemate the mischievous of smirks.

"Something rotten, that's for sure. Do you girls happen to know anything around here that's rotten?" she asked innocently, looking at both Gryffindors with what she pretended to be doe eyes. Now, her take on innocence was not nearly as good as Natalia's had been, but it did the trick.

"It must be coming from you mouths" the brunette, Sam Nicks, said. She was the most volatile of the two, and even if she had tried, she couldn't have stopped the words from coming out her mouth.

Instead of responding with anger, both Slytherins snickered, sharing a short look with each other and then returning their attention to the other two girls. They took a few steps closer to the stairs, in turn, the Gryffindors stood up – ready for whatever it was the two blondes wanted to do with them.

"Funny thing to say when the whole castle knows it is your blood that is putrefying. Yours too, Mc… _something_ " Natalia said coolly, her smirk not even pretending anything anymore, instead, revealing the profound loath she felt for the two individuals standing in front of her.

She had honestly forgotten the other witch's last name! What could she say? Muggles had strange words for everything.

Amelia laughed; Samantha took her wand off her pocket and Mary took grab of her friend's arm, stopping her from doing anything rush and stupid, but no looking any less furious, her lips pressed tightly together on a tight line of loath.

"You think you're so much better-

" _Know_ "

Mary frowned.

Natalia, then, smiled and explained: "I know I'm much better than you two. In fact, I find it ridiculous I have to explain it out loud, don't you Amelia?"

Avery's green eyes shined with amusement.

"Well, with these muggles… you have to explain everything to them, you know… with their small brains. It is very kind of you to do such a thing, although I wouldn't bother with these…" the nastiest of looks was thrown over the Gryffindors.

" _You disgust me_ " Nicks said, taking a step forwards and sensing Mary's grip on her loosen a bit – it appeared as if the Slytherins were emptying everyone's patience jar "And the fact that the only thing that makes you better than us is that your parents are all related makes you even more pathetic"

That seemed to make the seventh year lose a bit of her composture, taking the smile off her face. For Natalia, it was completely the opposite: it just gave her the chance to deliver one of her best lines.

"Well, at least our parents aren't swines, mudblood"

Sam Nick's face twisted in a mixture of pure anger and surprise, and it was in that moment that Mary McDonald was not only removing her warning hand off the other witch's sleeve, but she was also taking hold of her wand.

Not a minute after, the other two had their wands out as well, and had any professor walked pass them in that moment, he would've sent them all to a month worth of detention, for they looked ready to start a duel.

"What are you gonna do, mudblood? Huh?" Amelia Avery muttered, a twisted smile taking hold of her thin, boney face, making her look even more threatening than the usual.

Nothing happened, for in that moment Regulus Black, who happened to be a prefect and on one of his rounds, walked through the door. Upon seeing them, the boy sighed and cursed himself mentally; out of all the corridors, he had to walk pass the one where silly grown girls were having fights as if they were first years. He would have been happy to ignore then and keep walking, but he noticed one of them, the black haired Gryffindor one whose name he didn't know nor care about, had looked at him the minute he showed up, and as a prefect, he simply couldn't leave after that.

"What is going on here?" his tired voice asked, passing his eyes lazily through each of the witches involved, to figure their names out.

The black haired one, he didn't know, but he thought had sometimes seen around his brother and his friends; the brunette, whose name he also didn't care to remember, had been involved with his brother some years ago, as so many other girls had been – the only reason why he remembered this one was because this was a muggleborn, and everyone in his house had talked about it behind his back, thinking Regulus cared what his brother did with his life.

The other two he knew well enough from sharing house and attending the same events; Avery, whose brother he was obliged to tutor; and the other one being his brother's newest (and what appeared to be surprisingly lasting) new witch. He almost smiled at that thought; _oh the fun he could have were he to use that information any time soon._

"You should tell your snakes to lower their wands if they do not wish to be hurt" the brunette snapped, not even looking at him, instead focusing her maddened eyes on the smallest blonde.

" _You_ shouldn't tell him what to do. He, as well as Amelia and I, is your superior, Nicks. Be careful next time you talk to any of us like that, did you understand?" she spoke with a high pitched voice, a sweet one.

Regulus almost rolled his eyes at that. It wasn't that he didn't believe that to be true; yes, he was superior in many ways to the lot of them, and true, Yaxley and Avery were superior as well since as the fact of not knowing their last names nor their faces told him, these were either muggleborns or very, very, low category half bloods. Still, despite their superiority being a well known fact, he felt it was silly to start an argument because of it, and he really didn't want to be dragged into such a petty, girly one.

The way he saw it, if one wanted to get Hogwarts muggle-born free, you had to actually do things to change it. Insulting them and throwing small curses their way, as girls and some boys from his house tended to do, was worthless; first off, it did nothing to get them out, if anything it made them appear innocent to praying eyes, making themselves look like the villains; secondly, it usually resulted on the Slytherin getting detention; and thirdly, although most confident on the fact that muggles and their extensions (those being muggleborns) were a plague he didn't care for welcoming into his word, he did not believe it was technically their fault – they were really unlucky creatures, forced to have such impure blood and on top of that, having to put up with brats like Yaxley and Avery, among others.

He was about to give them all a warning and the order to break it off and keep going their way, for given them detention would've meant he'd have to spend further time with them walking them to some teacher's office, but it was in that exact moment when the Gryffindor brunette actually spitted on Natalia Yaxley's shiny, lovely, black shoes.

A sound full of disgust with an expression that matched was all that came out of Natalia Yaxley. When Sirius looked over, still completely shocked by the action, he saw her face twisted like that of a gnome, and hadn't it been for his confusion, he'd have laughed.

Things escalated from there, as Yaxley pushed the spitter by the shoulders, making the girl fall on her bottom over the stairs. Avery pointed her wand towards the Gyrffindor left standing and threw a small jinx, all while Mary McDonald pushed Natalia back.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Regulus intervened, putting a hand over the Gryffindor's shoulder to push her back so she wouldn't keep on attacking Yaxley, and wrapping a hand strongly around Yaxley's forearm, to prevent her to fall "Avery, you stop that" he yelled at the girl.

Any amusement or boredom he might have felt for the situation had vanished, and all he felt now was annoyance. He truly was unlucky to get in the middle of all of that. He truly hoped a teacher would pass them by, for this was no situation for a single wizard; at the same time, he wished even more than no student of importance should find them, for it was rather an embarrassing situation and they could think he was somehow involved in it.

Wouldn't one believe his luck, when he saw no other but his brother and one of his idiotic friends, Lupin, walk pass the door. Little after, he saw the little one, Petriwell enter as well, a bit out of breath and just as interested on the scene as the other two were.

"Well, don't stand there and do nothing, idiots. Help out!" he growled, his left hand still holding Yaxley's forearm and his right now holding her right shoulder, to stop her from pointing her wand to the Gryffindor who pushed her. Meanwhile, Nicks was standing up, and ready to fight off Avery.

Good thing was that although he was most certain Sirius and his group of friends were the biggest idiots in all Hogwarts, they responded quickly, and soon were attending to the Gryffindors. No one dared to approach Avery, which Regulus thought wise; still, there was one of them who despite the fact that he was already holding her himself, approached Yaxley – surprise, surprise, that someone was his brother.

Regulus watched his brother place a hand over the blonde's space between her shoulder and neck, above his own; and thought the touch was not meant to be caressing or anything, he noticed how softly he managed to do it, and he also noticed how Yaxley's head rose up to meet his brother's grey eyes, identical to his own. Had he needed any confirmation for his theory of the two of them shagging each other, this one was it.

With no rush nor slowness, he retired his hands from Yaxley's frame, making Sirius aware of it. Regulus watched in amusement as his brother removed the hand as well, and Yaxley's cheeks grew a bit pink; did they honestly think he was stupid enough not to see what was going on? He almost laughed.

"What happened?" Remus Lupin asked, holding Sam Nicks by the wrist where her wand was being held, prepared to hex everyone.

They were all now on a perfect circle, with perfect visibility of each other's faces; half of them over the steps of the staircase and the other half down on the ground. Most of them wearing red and gold, and the other tree wearing green and silver. They were all breathing heavily, with perhaps the exception of Avery, whose dangerous eyes hadn't lost a bit of the coolness they had held when it all had started.

"They're Slytherins! What do you think happened?" Nicks snapped, turning her look to Remus as if it had been he the one to push her and make her whole right bottom cheek sore.

"She spat on my shoes" Natalia cried with disgust, raising one of her feet for the rest of the party to see. And there it was, the evidence, and it was nasty.

All eyes were on Nicks now, demanding for an explanation.

"And then you pushed Sam! After you said-

"And you pushed Natalia, so shut your mouth you disgusting-

"Enough" Regulus strong voice said.

He didn't even yell, but it was enough to make them al stop their words before they let their moths. It was a thing he had inherited from his father, who rarely yelled, but was always obeyed. Sirius, on the other hand, took after their mother.

"Why on Godric's name would you do that, Nicks?" Sirius asked, slightly disgusted by the spitting, but not surprised at all since he was familiar with Sam's temperament and Natalia's talent to provoke other people.

He was standing next to Yaxley who looked up at him as if she were hoping he'd tell all the other witches off and take her side, and Regulus felt overtaken by the surrealness and ridiculousness of it all.

"What?!" the girl cried, outraged.

This time, it was Remus the one to take part.

"That was a bit unnecessary, Sam" he was careful with his words. He seemed to be really trying not to offend his old friend, while subtly taking his newest friend side.

The brunette looked at him in disbelief, to then pose her eyes on Sirius, looking at him with the same expression. Then, she turned her head towards Mary, and discovered she was just as confused as herself.

"That was a bit gross, Sammy" the always unnecessary voice of Peter Pettriwell called from the side.

" _Shut up_!" she snapped at the little wizard, with whom she got fairly well along and almost considered a friend. She knew, out of all of them, Peter was probably the one who meant what he said the least, and was just repeating what he had heard everyone else say, but it was simply the drop that overflowed the vial "What is it with all of you?! Defending them? Are you for real?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes, shaking his arm to accentuate on how ridiculous he thought Samantha Nick's words were.

"I'm not defending anyone! I'm just saying that you've got a reputation for being extreme and that what you did just then was simply revolting"

Samantha's mad and furious light on her eyes had disappeared, and instead, coldness took place. That was low, and she knew he knew. He was referring to those weeks after fourth year, when they had briefly made out and then he had replaced her with Marlene, who was her friend – truth, she had done a few things she wasn't proud of after that, but that didn't mean he could use it against her in such a situation as the one she found herself in.

No one but Regulus noticed Natalia's tiny smirk, and the way she leaned closer to his brother's side, to the point where they touched. _Could they be any more obvious?_ Regulus thought; _could their idiotic friends be any more oblivious?_

"Well, Nat. It is our fault, after all. To think one can have a civilized conversation with these people…" Avery said, putting her wand away and gaining an annoyed look by most everyone in the circle, with the exception of Natalia.

"Keep talking, Avery" Mary growled, taking one step ahead.

Regulus sighed, tired of it all. Really, not even Sirius' and Yaxley's business serving him as a distraction anymore. He just wanted to go back to the common room and do homework.

"You two" he turned to the blondes "I'll let you go with a warning, since it's the first time I've ever caught you in such a situation, and I'm hoping it'll be the last"

"Fine by me" Avery smiled.

"And you" he turned back to the other two, who's faces gave away the fact they were going to complain after he said what he had to say "I'll take twenty points from-

"Twenty points!?" Mary McDonalds exclaimed outraged, her Scottish accent coming off uncontrollably "And they get off with nothing? When they started it?" she then turned to Remus "Aren't you going to say anything?"

With colour on his cheeks, for he hated when he was put on the middle of situations – which happened often, Remus Lupin, a prefect on his own right, took a step ahead towards Regulus, and trying to get his voice to come out whole and not broken by nervousness, he said: "Don't you think twenty points is a bit excessive?"

"It's forty, actually" Regulus smiled thinly, after all, those were points from Gryffindors "Twenty each. Now, if you excuse me" and wearing off that ephemeral smile he turned around, refusing to listen to whatever nonsense they had to say for a second longer.

"Can't you do anything about it!?" he heard the one who went after the name of Samantha Nicks ask, from behind.

He was quite far to hear when Lupin answered, but he already knew that there was nothing he could do, for he wasn't on guard and only prefects on guards were allowed to take points off students.

Keeping a slow walk and his head straight, he prayed Merlin his day would be free from any drama after what he had just endured. Well, at least he had gotten to take some points off those Gryffindor girls, and he had witnessed the extents of his brother's and Natalia Yaxley's secret relationship – he had thought the two were only screwing around, but the way they behaved earlier might have told a different story – it was all very entertaining, having such information and being the only one at that.

When he sat down to work on his Arithmancy paper, he sighed, for he admitted to himself he wished could've given both Yaxley and Avery detention as well, or some sort of punishment that didn't require taking points off his own house, for making him lose his precious time and temper – after all, they had been just as guilty as the other two, if no more, for since they should've known better than to mess with muggleborns on times like these, when everyone seemed so invested on protecting them. Still, he rested assured he had done the right thing by only giving them a warning, since doing anything but would have resulted on Natalia Yaxley whining for hours to him, provoking him a headache, and also, that might have initiated some sort of talk with Simon Yaxley – his Quidditch captain.

Pushing it all behind, Regulus focused on what was important: his own future.


End file.
